memories

One year ago this weekend, Gretchen Life and Frank Andrew took their new sail boat out onto Lake Ponchartrain and they never came back.

I don't think it is possible for me to describe how much I miss my friend. Gretchen was truly one of the sweetest, kindest, most loving people I have ever known. The world, and my life, was a better place for having her in it.

At her memorial, I talked about how she and I hadn't stayed in regular contact during the previous year. We were both in residency and busy. One of us would call the other, and they would be too busy to talk. "I'll call you back tomorrow." But we never would. And six weeks would pass before we called again. We were both guilty of this.

Gretchen and Frank were going to move to Rifle, Colorado when she was done with her residency. We both looked forward to being closer geographically and planned to see each other regularly. We both assumed that we would have the rest of our lives to make up for the missed phone calls, missed conversations and missed hugs.

It is a terrible thing that it took a friend's death to remind me that life is short and often unexpected; your friends and family will not always be there to share it with you. Enjoy them and love them while you can.