Going, going, gone

Migrated from LiveJournal / Dreamwidth 


I just finished writing a poem, this morning, about a dear friend who has gradually been dying over the last few months, and probably has little time left now – a poem I won't be making public just yet, but they come of their own volition, when they insist on being written.

Perhaps it was good timing, as I might well be feeling too stunned and devastated now, and for some time to come, to write such a poem. This afternoon I got the very unexpected news that another, even dearer friend passed away peacefully this morning in her bedroom. Her son, who lived with her, posted the news on her facebook page.

One thing that rocks me is that she was two years younger than me.

Another is that I last saw her only five days ago. I was leaving the fish'n'chip shop in her town (where I had a couple of appointments) just as she sat down in the café next door. So instead of getting in my car straight away, I went over and had a chat. We had been in touch by email and Messenger anyway, but this was the first time we'd seen each other in person for a couple of months. She said she had not been very well, but it wasn't particularly obvious. I'd never have expected this!

We tentatively arranged to organise another of our occasional lunches with other members of the old WordsFlow writers' group (where we met ten years ago) as soon as the extreme weather settles down a bit.

She was a wonderful writer, with the gift of being funny and serious at the same time. And she was a great person: warm and kind, sensible and sensitive, and never afraid – in writing or in person – to "tell it like it is".