On Friday I received news that my friend Erica was in palliative care and was being kept comfortable. She fought for a year with cancer...she fought very hard. I was just texting with her last week...so I was in shock that things had turned so quickly.....but that's the nature of the beast and my friend would never let on how bad things were. Friday night I had a fire, a drink to her honour and sent her a final text message, knowing she wouldn't see it but it let me say what I needed to say. Yesterday, after I got the news she passed away, I cried.
Erica was a GREAT listener. She helped me through my Mom's battle and when I was having trouble with some friends. We would talk and talk and talk both when I "worked" at her store helping with displays or even just when I popped in to shop/visit. We drank a lot of chai lattes together too and we always texted...not daily but we kept in touch.
She had a lot of things she dealt with in her life that were devastating and always stayed calm and steady (in public anyway). She would say "It is what it is" and I have a small wooden plaque that says that as it always reminded me of her.
She had an amazing store.....I told her I admired her as she jumped in with two feet to realize her dream, something I never had the nerve to do. Her store grew and expanded and became a destination for people travelling looking for a great place to shop! I have MANY items from her store and have also made and sold stuff there. Here is my prized possession:
This barn painting was destined for her house. She had posted a picture of one she had for sale but someone else had scooped it up before I got up to visit. When we were talking about it, she told me she had bought one for her house but she needed to repaint the walls before she could hang it....do I want it and she would order herself another one. Of course I said YES!!! She never did get a chance to order another one.....That's the type of person and business woman she was....always making her customers happy. That's one of the reasons why people loved her and her store!
I had make this wallhanging for her after we had a conversation where I was trying to motivate her to get back to living....she was having a hard time wanting to get off the couch and do anything after she returned from her long stint in Calgary. She loved her yard and flowers and the river that ran close by and would take a picture of the river in the same place every month. I challenged her to get up and take a picture of her river....she did it a couple of days later. I never did get this wallhanging quilted.......which makes me sad but it will be another reminder of my good friend. I added a crow to the bottom because she loved crows.
Erica spent her dash well. I will miss her dearly and going back to my old hometown will be so much different as there will be a huge void that will never be filled.
Rest in peace my friend.....until we meet again.👼
No comments:
Post a Comment