About 3 weeks ago I received new that one of my close friends from college
passed away from Ovarian cancer. I've
known people who've passed on of course, even those who were my own age, but
this news has left me absolutely crushed.
(For those of you who have the misfortune of interacting with me in
person, if I've been a bit off lately this is why.)
I've spent the past 2 weekends making cross country trips (1 to Atlanta for
my daughter's cheer leading competition, 1 to Massachusetts to visit my kids)
so after killing my Kindle battery playing Angry Birds I was left with plenty
of time to just think.
Cheryl smart, friendly, witty and the owner of a delightfully inappropriate
sense of humor. (an example: she grew up on a farm and took to naming her pet
turkeys "Thanksgiving", "Christmas", "Easter",
etc.... :-) ) We were part of a circle of friends starting in my junior year
and continued for the next 4 or 5 years while I was in graduate school and she
went to medical school. She eventually
became an ER physician.
I realize of course as life progresses you can drift from your older
friends as jobs, spouses and children become your primary focus but upon
hearing the news of her passing I realized that it somehow had been about 15
years since we had seen each other. I
know its terribly cliche but how the time slipped by so quickly is beyond me.
You always think there's going to be more time. That you'll get around to
looking up old friends and all the other things that get pushed aside by your
daily life when you get a chance. But
that chance is exceedingly elusive. Then
all of a sudden you find yourself 46 years old and the chance is gone, with the only opportunity left to reconnect is at a gravesite.
RIP Cheryl, while Heaven has been a far better place these past 3 weeks, you've left those of us who loved and missed you way too soon.
Unfortunately this is the only picture I have still in my collection. This is from January of 1988, Front Row L-R Moi, Christine LaRocca. Back Row L-R Cary Booker, Bill Massar, and Cheryl.
RIP Cheryl, while Heaven has been a far better place these past 3 weeks, you've left those of us who loved and missed you way too soon.
Unfortunately this is the only picture I have still in my collection. This is from January of 1988, Front Row L-R Moi, Christine LaRocca. Back Row L-R Cary Booker, Bill Massar, and Cheryl.
