February 9, 2001
ell,
yesterday I had a topic in mind, and all my thoughts organized
(or relatively so), at least enough to write about it. And I
ran out of time (I like to get to work on time, go figure). So,
I thought to myself, I'll just save it for tomorrow's post. And,
of course, I have absolutely no recollection of what it was about.
I'm sure that 3 minutes after I leave for work, I'll remember,
and then it'll have to wait until Monday to get written, which
means it likely won't get written at all. Suz swears that with
a memory like mine, I should have been a big pot smoker when
I was younger, but the fact is, I've never touched the stuff.
I come to my foggy-headedness the natural way (and I blame my
parents... ;p) Ah, well, if it was important, I'll get around
to it.
It doesn't surprise me, however, to see the recent posts about Nora. She's been on my mind quite a bit recently, with the anniversary of her going into the hospital just last week. I remember being pretty scared in the beginning, and sitting in the hospital with Greg while she was getting her liver transplant (I don't remember how quickly it happened after being put in the hospital, but I feel like it would be a year ago this or next weekend...). We argued about the civil war, and a whole host of other things, in an effort not to go crazy about our real concerns. I'm afraid that Greg and I may have put off Nora's mother, due to the way in which we coped with our concerns. But Suz is correct, it was an hours drive down every night which we did, thanks to David, our boss, before the end of work, so that we could make it in before the end of visiting hours. The early part, Nora was in intensive care, and in a coma, so we were just being there with her, and supporting Greg. She eventually came out of the coma, and was quite frustrated not to be 100% better immediately. She was quite wonderful, and even tried to cheat us in Scrabble the first time we played. Typical Nora.... and you could see the twinkle in her eye, even if she couldn't speak at the time, due to the tubes down her throat. She had a good time messing with us.
So, I'm thinking about her a lot recently. She was special... a good friend for years before we met (her character and mine used to hang out in the game) and a good friend after we met (she and her first husband came to DC many times for gatherings). I was quite pleased to find her at the company when I got there, although a bit crestfallen that she was chasing after Greg (who competes rather well with several of us for sovereignty of the Kingdom of Gooberishness). I learned over the next several months that she was not only a special person, but a hellaciously good game player, and extremely intelligent. When the company downsized a bit, and she lost her position, I was happy to absorb her into my department. It was a pleasure to attend the hastily arranged wedding (neither she nor Greg have any planning abilities whatsoever... a perfect match!) She was warm, witty, intelligent, caring. I'm sure she's happy to see how well Greg is taking care of her son Christopher...
I miss her a lot.