Becky Says...

January 13, 2001

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Time Passes

In the last day or so I've been thinking about the last twenty years. A friend I've known about that long died this week. She had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis a little over a year ago, and it had taken its toll on her and on her family. I will miss her, but would not want her suffering to have continued.

She was in a group of people I met eating lunch in downtown Chapel Hill when I first went to work at Non-Profit Agency #1. There was an established group that usually ate at one section of the lunch counter, and my friend was one of its more outgoing members. I was welcomed into it with open arms, and made some lasting friends. It was a group where age nor gender nor financial status mattered. We just all enjoyed being with each other.

Among other things my friend and I had in common was that we liked pretty jewelry. We also liked finding good bargains on it. As I write this, I'm wearing a ring she encouraged me to buy at a sale. It was the first of several that I bought, "blaming" her for each purchase over the years (the store had an annual sale....).

We also both had a fondness for jokes, and we both had one ear that worked better than the other---so when we planned to have a joke-telling session, we had to make sure we were sitting just right---some of the jokes were not suitable for telling too loudly.

A few years after we met, I wound up being pianist at her younger daughter's wedding reception. This meant that I got to wear a formal dress to the wedding and reception. And that meant I got to walk down the main street in Chapel Hill (on my way to the wedding) in an evening gown. It is testimony to the character of Chapel Hill that no one seemed to find my attire the least bit odd for 3:00 p.m. on a Sunday.

With the passage of time, and changes in our work circumstances, etc., we didn't see each other much over the past ten years. But when we did get together, we had good talks and good times.

For all the silliness we shared, and for all the love over the years, I am grateful.

On a happier note about time passing, this is Planet SOMA's fifth anniversary. Planet SOMA was the first personal website I ever ran across, about fourteen months ago. And I'm so glad I did. Happy Anniversary, David, and many more!

Text � copyright 2000-2001 Becky