Loss of a Friend

On Wednesday, my friend Barbara passed away.  Her husband came home from work and found her on the floor.  She was diagnosed with lung cancer not quite a year ago.  She did go through chemo and radiation, but they couldn't do surgery.  From the last time I talked to her, she actually sounded better than she did prior to that.  I know a couple months ago she had another scan done, and the tumor had not grown, so I was hoping that was good news.  Apparently not.

I met Barbara in 1995.  She actually hired me at my current job.  She left there about a year and a half later and moved out to Henderson, NV to work for one of our customers. She was out there for about 6 or 7 years I believe, then she moved back to Florida.  We were friends from the time she hired me.  We both had the same interest, our love for our pets, and we understood each other.  She listened to me when I had no one else at a difficult time in my life.  She had been the only true friend I have had in a really, really long time.  We didn't see each other much, but we always chatted on the phone.

It breaks my heart knowing that I will not be able to talk to her again.  It also breaks my heart because I know how worried she was about 'leaving' her dogs when it was her time.  She was worried about them.  Worried that her husband won't take care of them like she did.  And to be honest, he won't.  She didn't work and stayed at home all the time with them.  Her husband will have to continue to work.  Her dogs, Bruiser and Buddy (they're both Beagles), will adjust in time.  It just makes very upset because I can't stop thinking about how worried she was.  All I know is if there is such a thing as ghosts, she is right there, right now, watching over her dogs, and I'd have to say that makes my heart smile just a bit.

I will miss my friend very much. I hope I can come across another friend like her at some point in my life again. If not, I will wait to chat with her on a different level, I hope.