A Eulogy for Annie

A dear friend of mine is gone. One of the folks I visited on my trip last month, she knew her time was coming up, hoped it wouldn’t be yet, but as she said ‘when He’s ready He’ll call’. I met her when we were in the rescue squad together, back when we were young mothers and raising kids and trying to help our community and neighbors and do all the other things that you do when you’re young and sassy and can do it all. We had a lot of laughs, we shared husbands leaving, things the kids did, all of it. I went to her house to take a shower once when my water was frozen. She said ‘as long as you’re working I know I can find a job’ because I helped her get work at places I was at: she helped at the theatre in several areas, and at the department store I worked at in Hudson. She moved to Florida, and the work she’d done in our costume shop helped her get a job in that department at Disney World. One Christmas she wrote that she’d gone ‘up above’ onto the Main Street there late at night – all the Christmas lights were on, and there were no people and she stood and enjoyed ‘that lovely show, just for me’. She had to stop working and she moved and we lost touch, I didn’t know her new address and then several years ago she sent a Christmas card and we got back in touch, with Christmas cards and email. Chatted on the phone a few times. She called last summer, after the hurricane came through, to ask were we ok, when I called back I just got a message, but it was so nice, and so her to know that she was concerned. I spent about 24 hours with her. We talked and talked and talked, about old times, rescue squad calls and friends, our kids, jobs, family, and of course solved the world’s problems. She had to stop and rest now and then, she was on oxygen full time, and had to stop to just breathe. She said that she didn’t think it was time for her to go yet, because her ex-husband and her brother (who for unknown reasons stopped talking to her some years before his passing) were probably telling God ‘don’t’ let her in yet, we’re not ready to deal with her’. She was not only fighting COPD but several years ago was in an auto accident that almost killed her, and had gone through a series of operations to repair damage from that. Her neighbors took good care of her, helped out, and a health aide came in to do things as well. I feel bad that I didn’t stay longer, but I could see that having someone there was tiring her out. She was brave, solid, realistic, loving, giving. The world has lost a good person, there aren’t many like her and we need more of them. Goodbye, Annie. It was grand knowing you.