Cindy

Today 2 years ago the world lost a very special woman and I lost a best friend. My friend Cindy died of breast cancer at age 43. She was diagnosed at age 39. And she lived as long as the doctors first said she would. Cindy was such a special person. She had a heart of gold. She gave freely of herself her time and her money. She gave for the simple joy of giving. We would go out at lunch time shopping and she would see something that someone liked or collected. She would buy it for them for no reason at all. She practiced random acts of kindness long before Oprah. Cindy was everything you could ask for in a friend. She listened, she was comforting, she was fun, and she was silly. She did great impersonations of Wolf man Jack, Elvis and the guy in Swingblade. At work we come up with a joke or prank and pull it off. No one ever believed Cindy was involved, I always got the blame!
I was with Cindy when she found out she had breast cancer and it was the only time I saw her cry about it. She never complained or asked why me. She handled it with strength and true courage. I knew it was painful as had already spread to the bone when she found out. Occasionally we would speak in general about pain, as I suffer from chronic pain. I have to admit I complained but she didn't. When she found she went to the hospital for more testing. The first night she was there we spoke privately. And I told her that I would follow her lead if she wanted to talk about cancer or anything else. Cindy had always kept her emotions in check and as loving as she was. She definitely wasn't a touchy feely person unlike my Italian self.
So I honored my promise and we never really discussed it again. We kept our friendship as before. Acting as if there was all the time in the world. I hope she didn't find that as hard to do as I did. But my love for my friend made it easier to do. And this wasn't about me but her. So we stayed that way to the end. The last time she was aware of things we were still making jokes and laughing together as usual. And about a week later she was gone. The world is a sadder place. Her family and friends are sadder, as am I. But we were all blessed to have had her in our lives. I so miss her.