the girl with the voice like a song . . .
I just learned news of my dear friend, Irene, who had breast cancer and a mastectomy several years ago…...that her cancer has returned and metastasized in her liver. You may recall, she is "the girl with a voice like a song." I met her for the first time one day in 2006 and that night after I went home, I felt so compelled to write this poem about her. You may read it if you wish, here when I first posted it: http://earthmother45.livejournal.com/9450.html#comments)
I went to visit her on Tuesday. I had not seen her for quite a while (something now that I truly regret). Why do we always think we have all the time in the world? But it soon became clear to both of us that it was as though no time had passed in our friendship and we picked up right where we left off. She said, "no regrets, Kathy,....that is all in the past." We hugged and cried and hugged and cried some more, and then we settled in for about three hours and talked about beautiful, important, deep and meaningful things. Not a moment between us was frivolous in any way.
She lives in a place called DeSoto Towers that is located, at some point, along Manatee River. As I was walking up to the doors of her building, I stopped at the water’s edge and looked up into the trees that lined the bank of the river. I looked for a long time before I realized what else was actually there. I stared at the beauty of the limbs against the sky and suddenly at just the moment I was supposed to see them, the three ibis appeared to my eyes.
She later told me she was looking out her window (from the 5th floor) at about the time I was to arrive and saw this girl with a camera far away across the parking lot standing in the trees looking upward and thought "ahhh....that must be kathy." I'm smiling at that, because that's how many know me....the girl with the ever-present camera.
I went to visit her on Tuesday. I had not seen her for quite a while (something now that I truly regret). Why do we always think we have all the time in the world? But it soon became clear to both of us that it was as though no time had passed in our friendship and we picked up right where we left off. She said, "no regrets, Kathy,....that is all in the past." We hugged and cried and hugged and cried some more, and then we settled in for about three hours and talked about beautiful, important, deep and meaningful things. Not a moment between us was frivolous in any way.
She lives in a place called DeSoto Towers that is located, at some point, along Manatee River. As I was walking up to the doors of her building, I stopped at the water’s edge and looked up into the trees that lined the bank of the river. I looked for a long time before I realized what else was actually there. I stared at the beauty of the limbs against the sky and suddenly at just the moment I was supposed to see them, the three ibis appeared to my eyes.
She later told me she was looking out her window (from the 5th floor) at about the time I was to arrive and saw this girl with a camera far away across the parking lot standing in the trees looking upward and thought "ahhh....that must be kathy." I'm smiling at that, because that's how many know me....the girl with the ever-present camera.