Thursday, May 28, 2015

Sorry I've been away...

Yikes, I can't wait until this year is over. Why you may ask?

Let me say, I lead a small life. I have a small group of friends here (mostly knitters). We don't have a large extended  family, which has decreased in size for reasons I will not get into. And none of our families live nearby. But that's OK. I'm fine with my small world.

How is it then that in my small world, I've lost 4 important people in 5 months. First my father-in-law in January, then my uncle, my Dad's last surviving brother, in February. Then his spouse, my aunt, 38 days later. The only thing that keeps this from being tragic, is because all of these folks were in their 90s. They had all lived good, long, productive lives and were deteriorating physically. It was just that we barely recovered from one death that another was on your heels. Exhausting.

Then the real tragedy, on the morning of May 12th at 7:30am, my cell phone rang. This is not a usual occurrence. Not many people have my cell phone number. I didn't recognize the phone number and nearly didn't answer. But I took a chance, and heard one of the owners of my LYS calling (at 7:30!!). She was calling to tell me that Kim, her partner in the store, had died the evening before. A tremendous chill ran down my spine. She was calling her teachers so they were not blindsided by the email she was preparing to send later in the day. Thank goodness she did.  Kim was only 43 years old. She had no known health issues. She was a dynamic artist, an author, and tremendous person. Her quilting designs were sublime. Everyone loved her. She, her partner, and another teacher were to meet for dinner at a local restaurant, Kim and the other teacher arrived first and Kim just collapsed. Two nurses were there having dinner and began resuscitation immediately. The EMTs were there within moments, to no avail. I'm still stunned, and sad. Her partner is forging ahead, and we're all trying to help in any way that we possibly can. The only thing it made me think, was to make the most of each and every day. You just never know.

Kim would want me to post something lovely. That's who she was. I'll keep the knitting for later.....for now, my contribution to the online art exhibit in her honor: