Tribulation of a Lost Friend

I got a call today from the daughter of a friend. She told me that Kim had died in her sleep the night before. Kim was only 49, exactly one year younger than myself.

Kim has been on of my best friends for over 25 years. We had both moved into houses next door to one another about the same time. Her son was in between my two boys in age and I was pregnant with Bombshell at the time. I don’t know how we got to be such good friends. We were so very different. I was a SAHM and she was a stripper. We would get together during the day for coffee and talk while the boys all played in either the front or back yard.

Then the time came when I moved across town. We didn’t see one another as much but we still found time to talk on the phone. She was there for me when I told my ex I wanted a divorce. She was there throughout my divorce, as I was soon to be there for her through her divorce.

Over the years we seemed to merge into one another and exit out the opposite side. I became the working mom (as a legal assistant) and she became the SAHM, joining the PTA of the schools her children attended.

Finally I moved to another town, and even our telephone conversations became further and further apart. But it didn’t seem to matter. We both always knew the other was there when needed. And whenever Pan and I would go into Town to see our folks we would almost always stop in and say hello. Occasionally she would come over here. The last time I actually saw her face to face was at a scrapbook crop that I had invited her to.

The last couple of years, though, either she had not been home or I didn’t have the time. I didn’t get to say a proper good-bye, but from what my goddaughter told me no one had. This was unexpected. Still already I feel that lose of knowing I will never again hear her voice, hear her laughter, at least not during my lifetime.

Kim, I miss you. I love you.