it was from susan
she and her husband were best friends forever type of friends
she was always giving us stuff
that maybe others wouldnt like but she just knew we would
we always did
this sound thingamajig thing
when the wind blows it around
or
if you bag into the wire thing it made this sound
almost like an african drum might make
it was a gourd painted with chickens on it with
this long spring coiled wire hanging out the bottom
once when a wind storm came through
not long after we received this thingamajig
i kept hearing this sound
like drums in the distance
i finally located it
it was susans gift to us
we thought enough of this thingamajig to allow it
to make the cut when we culled things to carry with us
to california
this one did
in fact when we read that she died
i went out
banged that thing
making it make those twanging drum sounds
as a honor sound to susan and her life
her husband greg died 5 years ago in the final stages of
huntingtons
here are two blogs i wrote about him
myfriend gf
my friend greg
i tried to read them at his memorial service
but couldnt do it
now susan was what i would call an energizing bunny
she couldnt sit still very long
usually when we visited we always had to take some long
hike with her or go somewhere to see something
an avid walker she prepped for a half marathon walk run
building up her stamina to do the walk
during the walk she got real real short of breath
enough that she ended up in the emergency room
sadly a chest xray showed almost total whiteout of her lungs
followup testing showed she had metastatic cancer
it slowed her down
but not by much
when her energy level got better
off she went to another adventure
after her diagnosis
she extracted a lot from the last months she had left
europe trips visits with friends including us ship tours
wine tours
heck you name it she did it
our last visit with her was last summer
we spent a good three days with her
ok she made me work on this spinning monument thing in her
front yard that wouldnt spin right
we probably had one of best visits we have had with her
i think all three knew that would be our last
although she was mostly bedridden on her recent birthday
she took the time to talk with us
it seemed to perk her up some
we got to hear that laugh of hers
im sure she was smiling
she received our recent christmas card of my wife she and i
at our anniversary meal at a restaurant on the beach
her and greg loved the beach
she kept it by her bed on a shelf
it was there when she died
now she and greg knew he would die from huntingtons
so they got all their legal stuff done early on
then lived the good life
both of them
we all thought with susans genetics she would live
to be 100
but thats not the way it worked out
now she had gone through the terminal disease thing
with greg
she knew how to do it
so
she when the time came signed up for hospice
she never looked back
the end was peaceful
the way she would have wanted it
she died at home not in some hospital
we miss greg
we really miss susan
ill think of her
every time i bump my head on that thingamajig
making that distinctive sound
we will hear her voice her laugh each time it twangs
rip
susan
the organicgreen doctor
A beautiful tribute to your friend, makes one wish she was a part of our lives.
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