August 19, 2007

Sunset and evening star

Some of us decided to drive to the calling hours together. Makes Bread said she'd be home by 6 o'clock with a babysitter, so we met at her house. We sat for a few moments on her deck, with Beautiful Hair filling us in on details we hadn't heard, and talked quietly until Makes Bread pulled into the driveway.

"You better take the front seat," Quilt Artist told me, "so you don't get motion sickness." We talked, of course, as we drove through the countryside, past cornfields that shimmered green and gold, and farmhouses with tall sunflowers in their front yards.

We are a group of women who have been friends for years: we get together for potlucks or walks or movies or full moon ceremonies – and sometimes whole weekends away. Gorgeous Eyes, just forty years old, is the youngest member of the group. And she is the first to be widowed.

Her partner, Beautiful&Funny, has been fighting cancer for seven years. During July, the two women travelled to the ocean on what they knew would be their last trip together, a trip filled with moments both painful and special. When they returned home, hospice nurses provided pain medication and Beautiful&Funny began the last stage of dying. Gorgeous Eyes knew that their nineteen years together was coming to an end.

She died last week.

We gathered at a big house in the country to talk, to hug, to look at photographs. Gorgeous Eyes pointed out some especially silly pictures, and Southern Accent told some funny stories. Family and friends clustered in groups on the deck, talking, listening, feeling the coolness as evening descended. "This is the easy part," Gorgeous Eyes said. "I am surrounded by people who love me." She's right of course. The hardest part will be the months to come.

14 comments:

BrightStar (B*) said...

I am glad you got to celebrate her life.

kathy a. said...

oh, jo(e). and ((( gorgeous eyes))). i'm very sorry for the loss of beautiful&funny.

it will be harder in the months and years to come. very glad that your friend had a community embracing her.

kathy a. said...

i meant, "has."

Anonymous said...

The Tennyson reference in your title made me well up before I even read the post. I read that poem at my grandfather's funeral.

I'm wishing for peace for all who are missing Beautiful&Funny.

Norah

BeachMama said...

Hugs to you and Gorgeous Eyes.

YourFireAnt said...

The title made my eyes sting, and the rest just soaked my cheeks and the front of my shirt. Lovely piece, Jo(e).

FA

Anonymous said...

You had me at the title.
It sounds like the perfect kind of calling hours....

Yankee T said...

It sounds like the perfect memorial.
((Gorgeous Eyes))
((jo(e)))

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Hugs and deep condolences and few tears headed your way and hers. Mary

((Gorgeous Eyes))
((jo(e)))

Anonymous said...

Life gets easier with friends - like you. More strength for you and her.

Pilgrim/Heretic said...

(o)

wwwmama said...

I'm so glad she has some support and that you could all take the time to be together. Wishing her continued love.

timna said...

(o)

jodi said...

So sorry for your loss and that of your friend's.