I received a call a couple of hours ago that my dear friend Pam had died. She was just 62. She was planning on retiring in a month. She had finally found balance in her life again, was loving time with her husband, her kids and her darling grandkids. She had survived a major medical mistake, gone through hell before it could be fixed and came out on the other end. She found peace with not being able to sue the idiots that screwed her up. She landed a job she really enjoyed after being treated like dirt by an employer that never learned what a gem he had.

Pam was my stitching buddy, my enabler, my motivator. Pam was my sounding board. There was nothing we could not and did not talk about. Pam picked me up when I thought I would never get up again. Pam saved my life when I didn't want to get up again.

Very few days went by when we weren't in touch in some way even if we just swapped places on wordscraper. There were hundreds of emails over the years, silly cards, little gifts. We were so alike we could have been twins.

I feel like a part of me is gone. I am sitting here looking at the canvas piece I am almost finished with and I know now she will never see it. I almost called her this morning because it is Saturday and I was going to give her heck about not answering my email from yesterday. I thought she would check in to make she I was still at it :-)

I will never get to make and give her the sunflower canvas I bought for her. She loved sunflowers. I waited too long, I was just too slow.

I know I have learned over the years that life changes in an instant. It still never fails to knock me to my knees when I blink and part of my life has changed forever.

One thing I am happy about, she knew how much she meant to me and I know what I meant to her. We were good about telling each other that. It still leaves a hole though.

Goodbye my friend, until we meet again. I love you and always will.

Maria