A post in which I lose a friend

I went into work today knowing I was going to have to pay for being out last week. Oh how right I was. To top off the stack, my boss lobbed yet another special report he wanted, as a priority, going back two years. Sigh. Another lunch hour falls by the wayside. There was nothing to do but buckle in and make the fur fly.

Which is precisely what I did. By the end of the day I was not finished, but caught up enough that I knew I’d be able to breathe tomorrow.

I found out today that my friend Judi wasn't doing well. I know she had cancer, and had a kidney removed. She had come back from work after that, but then after a week was back out again. Since then I've been out of the loop, although I heard at one point that she was getting better. Today I was told that she was being moved back home for hospice care, and they had prescribed morphine to keep her comfortable. By this afternoon she was gone.

I used to try to make sure I got her a Hanukkah card at the holidays. Her children didn't practice any longer, and she didn't get a lot of them. Since she was a widow, I always used to get her a little something and leave it on her desk at Valentine's Day. I know how it feels when everyone else is getting flowers and you know nothing is coming for you. Michael left in January 07. I had been dreading that Valentine's Day. It had been a horrible holiday season, and everything was still fresh. When I got to work that day, Judi and another of the girls had gotten me a little stuffed puppy. It hurt, but it was so sweet to know that she was thinking about me. She understood too. We used to go out to lunch occasionally. She, Pat, and I used to go out for Japanese sometimes. She was also one of the few outspoken Democrats at my office.

On the one hand, I feel bad that I didn't go see her, but on the other hand I was mainly a work buddy. I had never been to her house. She was pretty private about her illness too. It's a sad thing. She's a sweet woman, and I'll miss her.

I talked to Eve for a bit right before I left work. She and Dad won't be in Chapin this weekend. Dad has been to the doctor, who has once again threatened him with death if he doesn't lose some weight. He's on a strict diet in which he is unable to eat any corn products at all, including farm-raised fish. He will usually follow something like that for a month or so, then go back to the way he was eating before. It seems a tad unrealistic of the doctor to think that Dad is going to stick to such a stringent regimen, but apparently he is so far. One of the guys that works at the shop with him is a registered dietitian and he's helping put some meal plans together. According to Eve, they have a healthy and parsimonious Thanksgiving planned. On the plus side, they've also made him a vegetarian, however temporarily.

I had plans to go out to dinner with Jason tonight. He’ll soon be gone to Raleigh for good. Sigh. When I got to his place we talked about Judi for a bit, just because I needed to. Then we went to Saffron. He loves Indian food as much as I do – possibly more, which is scary. Yet another way he is the perfect guy who is of course leaving. But we had a nice meal and good conversation. Tomorrow I have to get ready to go to Columbia to see Mom, but it was good to spend the time with Jason tonight. He’s a sweet guy. I need to store up the memories that they are out there.