…Death of My BFF

Twenty years ago, my husband leaving me forced me to drastically change my life. I had been winding down my career and now had to ramp it up. I found a job working with 4 other women who, I thought at the time, were there to show me all of my future relationship/marriage options.

There was the one who dated – a LOT (that was my goal); the one who never had another relationship (this was not my goal); the one who had been dating the same man for a while (I would have been okay with this, after dating a lot); and the one who had been married for a long time (this is where I wound up, thankfully).

It never occurred to me that one of these women would become my best friend, confidant, voice of reason and sanity, sounding board, biggest supporter, and the person I called whenever anything “big” happened – good or bad. We both moved a few times and wound up living in different states but we kept in touch via texts and phone calls. She was able to talk to me about everything that was going on in her life, too. We were there for each other – no matter what. We were always there for each other.

She passed away a few days ago. It was unexpected. I find myself wishing that I had done more. Talked to her more, Seen her more. Made the effort more. Contact every few weeks at a minimum was not enough. Now I don’t have the chance to change that.

We were able to see each other for a milestone in my youngest daughter’s life a few years ago. My friend came to where we live. This was HUGE because she didn’t travel, but she did for us. She didn’t like social gatherings much, but she attended all of the events that weekend. I will never forget the first time I saw her that weekend – I ran up to her, hugged her tight, and said, “You’re here!!!!!”

Hug your loved ones. You never know when will be the last time that you can do that.