Here one second......Gone the next...

I survived all the birthdays in January! I have a total of 7 birthdays of family and friends. I usually celebrate 5 of the 7, this year I celebrated 6 of 7 birthdays and 5 of them in the same week!!! It was a lot of fun, but very tiring! I forget every year how hectic the end of January could be! But I can no start to catch my breath! I am very thankful and appreciate that I can celebrate so many birthdays every January and the rest of the year.

I got a visit from a neighbor yesterday morning with very sad news. She came to notify me that our other neighbor had passed away last week. Up until that very second, my neighbor "D" was still alive in my mind. I was very shocked. "D" was a very sweet older woman. She was our homeowner's association president and as I am the secretary, we worked together for the last 3-4 years. She was a great person, and we got along great. Every time I ran down to her place to quickly discuss an association matter, we would talk "business" for about 15-20 minutes and then spent an hour just chatting on personal matters. She was a very soft spoken, mild mannered, sweet, sweet woman. I enjoyed our chats and she knew about my fertility struggles and she always listened attentively whenever we would talk about my current fertility challenge. She also listened when I was talking to my sister. She would always, always tell me that I could come over anytime to chat and have tea, she offered her 'ears' whenever I needed to just talk.  

I had spoken to "D" the week before as we had discussed certain association items, we briefly spoke about what was going with each of us, she didn't sound to well, but she said she wasn't feeling too well because her blood pressure was acting up, but she would be okay as she was feeling better. I had tried reaching "D" just this past Friday, wanting to make sure she was feeling better and to set up a meeting. I didn't reach her but never thought I never would. So very sad. As soon as my neighbor left I shut the front door and with my hand over my heart let my tears of sadness fall. I was saddened because I didn't get to say farewell to my friend, saddened because I would be able to visit my friend again, saddened because I will miss my friend always. 

I was telling my husband how I had thought that I needed to call "D" and visit more often. In one second my friend was gone. Before I opened the door, my friend had been alive and warm and cozy in her house.  I will never get to visit her home and admire her cute bear collection (she adored teddy bears). I now pray that she is resting in peace and i take solace that she also passed away peacefully. She will forever live in my heart and in my too few memories of her....