Sometimes, life has funny twists to it.
I received the news via Facebook today that an old friend
passed away. It made me sad, not because I had known her for over ten years,
but because I had only recently begun to TRULY know her.
We had study hall and a few classes together in high school.
She was part of the graduating class a year behind mine, and we never really
talked much then. She struck me as quiet and shy…but she had a fantastic laugh.
I discovered that when I let her read some of the cartoons I was drawing in
class one day. There I was, the awkward guy who was always drawing in his
notebook, sharing what I was drawing with someone who found it funny, and I’ll
never forget the laughs it brought out in the otherwise quiet redhead in the
back of the class.
After I graduated, I lost touch with her, as I did many of
my former high school friends. I went off to college, made new friends, and
although I reconnected with a lot of folks when the Myspace and Facebook era
dawned, I heard nothing from or about that girl who had so enjoyed my drawings.
Then, one day, I got a Facebook request. It was her. Of
course I accepted, as I do for just about every other old acquaintance who
wants to know what I’m up to these days. But she took it a step further and
started messaging me. We shared our stories, cracked some jokes, and recalled
our trials and tribulations of high school life so long ago. Eventually, she
called me on the phone and talked to me, and she told me that she had always
admired me and my art, and that she remembered how kind I was to her when many
others weren’t. She explained, in grim detail, a battle with drug addiction she
had fought (and won.) She told me about
her life, her family, and her interests…things we had never discussed back in
the day.
From then on, we kept in touch via Facebook and texted each
other once in a while. I loved her sense of humor…she would send me jokes via
text message and comment on my random Facebook updates with one-liners and
sarcasm that were a joy to read.
She offered her advice and sympathy when my family was
having a rough Christmas up in Fort
Worth a couple years ago, and even offered to meet me for
lunch, a plan that, regrettably, didn’t work out.
I talked to her right before she got married, and we lost
touch for a little while again. This summer, I got word via her husband that she
had been very ill, fighting a disease known as Guillain–Barré Syndrome. I later heard that she was doing much better,
and eventually I got a text from her asking for my address so she could send me
a Christmas card, as we had exchanged cards for a few years prior. I asked how
she was doing, and she told me that she was getting better, but very slowly,
and was frustrated by the slow progress. We exchanged addresses…and that was
the last time I heard from her.
Ever.
I don’t know if she
ever got that card, and I didn’t get hers…but I hope mine gets forwarded to her
new address in Heaven, and she can enjoy the laughter it brings her, forever.
I’ll miss you,
Susan.
