Suzanne

I haven't felt much like posting here, because last week my very very best friend died of inoperable lung cancer.  We have been buddies since the 5th grade in FL, that's more than 50 years, and I thought of her as my sister, much more so than my actual sister.  I haven't written anything here about my friend as she battled her disease because she read this blog and I didn't want to compromise her privacy, or to make her feel like she couldn't get away from her trials and just read here for a chuckle or two.  Now that she is gone I feel the need to talk about us, if that isn't too weird.  We'll see.

When we lived in Memphis in 1970, Suzanne and her husband came for a visit. We all went for a ride on the Mississippi River; went to see Graceland (Elvis’ home), feeding squirrels in the park and so on.  We couldn’t do some of the things available because starting out we were pretty broke once the bills were paid.  But after they left, I found where Suzanne had tucked dollar bills all throughout the apartment for us to find.  There was one in the refrigerator!  She was so generous.

She came to see us in San Francisco in the 70s and we had a good time going to Alcatraz, Chinatown, walking along the Pacific Ocean, etc.  But the thing I remember best was seeing her riding my horse in Golden Gate Park.  She was wall-to-wall smiles.

In WV she came for a stay and went downhill skiing (something I have never been brave enough to try).   She was a strong shoulder to rely on when I went through my own cancer.

Growing up in FL she would frequently tell the story about how I helped her with her bike when she began crying, back in the day when she was 9 or 10.  She was the bridesmaid at my wedding in 1970.  We sang in the high school chorus, went to church, sang in the choir, and went to see Camelot. She teased me about my hair (usually a wreck) and we talked about boys.

But in all of these times together the main thing we did was talk and talk, about the world, about our families and community, and reminisce about the “good old days”.  She was incredibly generous, with money (I never could snag the check when we went out) as well as her time (like all the activities she organized for my first trip to her in FL) ; was a talented singer, had a wicked sense of humor and a caring outlook for people and animals.  It is so sad that a kind and well-loved woman had her time here cut so short.  I thought we would become old ladies together, but it is not to be.  I will cherish the times we had together.

 
"Don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened."