Today I received a phone call telling me that my good friend and former coworker, Sylvia, passed away last night. The last time I had spoken to her was when she called, woke me out of a sleep, to scream in delight at the news that I was pregnant. She had found out from a mutual acquaintance. I never did call her back to tell her we had lost the baby.
She was the kind of friend that you could fall out of touch with, pick up the phone a year later and pick up exactly where you left off. I used to refer to her as my "grown up low maintenance" friend.
A short time ago she was diagnosed with cancer ... stage 4. She kept it fairly quiet, travelling to other parts of the country in search of an alternative treatment, before finally going public here and seeking traditional treatment.
She had requested a few weeks ago that the crew of us that used to hang out together, get together for a girls weekend. We never were able to make that happen because she went so quickly.
And she and I didn't speak again before her death. We had a good game of phone tag going. I'd call her, leave a message to tell her I loved her and was thinking about her ... she'd call back, not leaving a message but I'd see her number on my call minder when I'd come home ... so I'd call again, get her machine and leave another message. The most recent message I left her was this past Sunday morning.
Oddly enough, the friend that called me today to relay the news of her passing said that Sylvia had just told her how pleased she was that we had managed to connect and talk in the last few weeks.
So even though we didn't, I'm at peace with the knowledge that she died thinking we had talked. Perhaps we did. Sometimes when you're really good friends that have that connection, your hearts speak to each other without words.
She was one of those phenomenal, energetic, loving, life filled, crazy ass women that bring joy to this world. I will miss her.
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