Today I go to say goodbye to a dear friend. Today I have to concede that I won’t be getting any random phonecalls. We’ll no longer meet for drinks back home, no more smoke breaks. Today the loss of a friend will be bringing all of us back together again.
Anna was a part of our group of friends in high school. Most of that time was at coffee shops, Denny’s, and the ever popular Rock-n-Bowl. We were a crazy bunch, but I guess most were in high school.
Recently she was my buddy when I went back home. We were the last of the singles that could be out after 9pm.When you go home, sometimes ya just need to get out and have a cocktail! We would hit Minnies or Tiki and talk about relationships, jobs, roommates, but mostly laughed at all the crap we used to do.
…all until one day when she called to say she had cancer. We all thought it would be treatable and go away, but over the last year it kept eating her alive. 500 miles away the best I could do was call as often as possible and text message to remind her that she was loved and how important is was for her to heal. I tried to visit, but she only let me see her once, just a month before she finally let go. She was usually in too much pain to talk, but when I called and hit the morphene timing right she would go on and on. Bowel movements, operations, needing to smoke, but a lot of the conversations were about Lindy and Stacy, and her saint of a boyfriend David. No one should be able to call themselves a man till they can live up to Anna’s description of David.
After surgeries, infections, chemotherapy, radiation, our Anna finally died of the most curable cancer around, just because she didn’t have health insurance to get checked. Some very dedicated freiends are now putting together AK Love Her Memorial Fund to help girls who can’t afford it gt the papspears that could save their lives.
The memorial service was nice, but didn’t feel right. None of us were very much at home in a church. However, friends came in from all over and we had a night of laughter she would be proud of! The pastor asked us to think on her, and though I tried I couldn’t find a memory of her where she wasn’t laughing. If I was God in heaven, she would be one of the fist I’d call too. 32 is still too young.
The past year my MBA program has taken over my life. I haven’t seen many friends more than once in that year. Losing the opportunity made me readjust my priorities. Life needs to be lived! I graduate in May and from now on friends and my health are getting a promotion.