Laurie was my Every Day friend... the one who knew what kind of a day I was having and what I needed from the store. For the last few years we have accompanied each other through hard things and wrestled with the hard questions together, like 2 wobbly skaters who hold each other up. She always made me laugh - in the midst of the most difficult situations, she had something funny to say. She had so many losses in the last 3 years - her beautiful curly red hair, 4 inches of height, her beloved horse, and even her husbands presence - but she was so courageous and resilient.
Over the past 2 days, I got to sit at her bedside with other friends. We all had heard of one another ... but we were from different eras, different contexts of Laurie's life. We laughed and told Laurie stories and cried and rubbed her feet and kissed her and told her how we loved her. It was a sacred time, full of "sharp sorrow and great wonder" as my friend Gwen described such a time. I hope that when I die, I can be accompanied to the threshold by my women friends as Laurie was.
I have lost my skating partner.
Until We Meet Again
5 years ago
