Dammit Janet
This week, I’ve lost another friend. As I get older, I expect to lose more friends, and attend more funerals. But when these friends are younger than me, it not only hurts my heart, but it makes me angry. Janet was 46 years old. She had a child under age 20, and a husband, and an active life.
Dammit, Janet. Why? Why are you gone? It can’t possibly have been time for you to be gone. Why?
Not that you didn’t have health issues – you had some pretty severe ones. But I didn’t ever think you’d pass before me. And you are not the first. There was another friend earlier this year, and she was 20 years younger than me. Both of you had health issues. But still. You took care of yourself, you followed the doctor’s orders. You should still be here.
I guess I’m not really over the angry phase of missing you. We weren’t that close, but we chatted often, and had many things in common. We had similar causes we supported, we were both raising challenging children, we both knew many of the same people. There were plenty of things that we didn’t have in common. You knew a lot about makeup, and I never wear it. You were a stay at home mom, and I couldn’t have that. We had our disagreements, as any friends do.
But now you’re gone. And I hear you in my mind, and I keep thinking Dammit Janet! Why??
I will miss you. I wish we’d have had more years.
And if you’re a woman and reading this, please please please know the signs of a heart attack. This is what killed Janet. She may have ignored symptoms, and was sick for two days before she went to the hospital. She thought she had the flu. Be aware of the symptoms, and get yourself checked if you have any of them. Your life depends on it.
American Heart Association – Symptoms of Heart Attack in Women.
