Have you ever had an 'Oh, no! Not (name)..." moment? I had one of those Friday evening when the daughter of a dear and long time friend contacted me to let me know her mother had died. I was shocked, for to the best of my knowledge she had no imminent illness. Yes, she had been plagued with rheumatoid arthritis for years but other than that, no more than the aches and pains that come with aging.
Her son alluded that the isolation brought on by Covid bothered her, for she lived alone. There's a lesson here, for she was found after neighbors had noticed she hadn't picked up her mail for several days. Was Covid partially to blame? The isolation and depression that isolation can cause? I expect so.
My heart ached. To die so alone. I hope when the medical examiner sorts it out it is determined she didn't suffer.
We had been friends for nearly 60 years. We laughed together, cried together, had incredible adventures when we were young and invincible. We were there for one another when we lost our parents - and she, her husband. It was one of those relationships where you may go for months without talking and when you do it seems like yesterday.
My first reaction to reading her daughter's message was, "Oh no! Not....!"
Why am I writing all this? Because I find it curious how it has related to my dogs. I can't think of a single time I wasn't on a first name basis with our vets. My dogs were so spoiled and so sweet everyone loved them. But one particular time sticks out in memory - with Louie, one of our Bastille Day adoptees.
The head of the vet practice came to our home. It was not a policy of theirs but he came anyway. One of the associate vets, learning of it after the fact reportedly cried, "Oh no! Not Louie!" And broke down in tears.
That's pretty much how I've been over this long week end. It has been a Memorial Day of a different sort.
Weeping for and remembering what was and will never be again.
I'll get back to business in my next post. Thanks for listening...
No comments:
Post a Comment