I know you don't much care for me Jon, but I am truly sorry for your loss. I know how it feels losing someone dear to you, having lost a very dear elderly friend in February of 2010. She was a fiesty and vibrant woman in her late seventies. She basically adopted me into her family here...she called me "son" and insisted I call her "mom," and she frequently joked about having "the adoption papers" to prove it all. She and her family had me over to their place for Thanksgiving and Christmas and to celebrate birthdays. Even though we were on opposite sides of the fence politically, she respected my opinions about things and I hers. She actually came to know me before we met through my writings in the opinion section of the local newspaper. In the summer of 2009, she was diagnosed with cancer, and we watched in horror as this beautiful, fiery woman wasted away. It was extremely difficult to take. I recall the last thing I said to her sitting next to her bed in the hospital crying uncontrollably...although she didn't need it, she had my blessing to go and I wanted her to know how much I was going to miss her. Even though we had so long to prepare for the inevitable, I was a complete basket case at her funeral. I am bawling just typing this. Not a day goes by when I don't think about her and the kindness that she bestowed upon me for no reason other than that is the way she was.
Even though not having these friends here is painful, please know that the fact that you feel pain for their departure is something beautiful and precious, because it means they deeply affected you in a positive way (and, more than likely, you them).
