I'm having a great day, laughing and singing and the like when, bam, I remember... Two years ago, almost to the minute, Trish and I were visiting Andrea in the Edmonton Ronald McDonald House... We had an awesome time, laughing and talking and drinking free hot chocolate and just generally being normal girls:) Except that one of us was in a wheelchair with a very uncertain future... That was the evening she told me she was just going to think about getting better, she wasn't going to dream about the future and make long-term plans. I think that evening was the last time I really saw her laugh... And unless you knew Andrea's laugh, you don't know what a loss that was. I'll never forget that evening. Shortly after that she moved back into the hospital, that was the only time I saw her in the RMH.
I'm reminded again that grieving is a life-long process. You can find closure, you can move on, but there's always a hole in your heart. And I'm reminded again why we hold our friends close while they're alive.
