And the Dreaded Phone Call.....

It happened on a full moon...another special person in my life died. COVID was her tipping point. She lived in Maryland and we first met her and her husband at our marina in Rock Hall. Their sailboat, Thou Swell, was directly across from ours on Blue Dock. We were all still working so sailing adventures were mostly on the weekends. I'll have to say that we soon became fast friends and really enjoyed spending time together. Sometimes it would be at a quiet anchorage up the Wye River or other Chesapeake location, sometimes it was a busy weekend trip to Annapolis or Baltimore. Wherever....we had a lot of fun and shared a lot of laughter.

Once we moved to Wisconsin our visits were less frequent, but they came to visit us once or twice and over the years we took RV trips that included a stop in their Chestertown driveway. We enjoyed a Viking River Cruise in Germany one year, and another from Boston to Montreal. They drove down to find us in Greenville, SC during February 2020 and we went east this September to meet them in Lewes, DE. My friend had been waging a brave "battle" with cancer and she did everything from stem cell replacement, to rounds of chemo. She was a part of several clinical trials and she kept her smile and positive attitude for year after year after year. She was a warrior.

She and I would talk on the phone every few weeks or so....our calls would start with a text when I asked "Is this a good time to chat?" If she responded with a thumbs up the call would go from Wisconsin to Maryland and we would catch up.

The phone call came from a mutual friend just the other morning.....she died, her husband at her side, on December 18th.....on the night of a full moon. Both my mother and my mother-in-law died with a full moon to light their way to wherever....and so did my friend. And people wonder why tears come to my eyes when I notice a full moon....it's so beautiful....but it's always like ripping off that bandaid and memories flood back. 

I sent one last text to her phone the morning after she died. I doubt that anyone will ever see it but I just had to put something in writing one more time. "Dear Heart....my last text to you and how I will miss our 'chats'! The world is a quieter place without your laugh and a grayer place without your smile. Love and miss you already. Rest in peace you warrior!"

A text sent to the universe.....who knows....maybe she was on the receiving end.