Most of us have people we associate with on a regular basis. They may be co-workers, fellow commuters, fellow shoppers, fellow gym members. We often chat with these people, but we may not spend any time with them outside of the place where we regularly see them. We know their first names. We may know whether or not they're married or if they have children.
We lost a person like this from our gym not too long ago. She was suddenly gone, with not a lot of explanation. We simply stopped chatting with her at the gym because she was no longer there. Later, we found out she had passed away awhile back.
There was no opportunity to send a card. We don't know her family. There's a required confidentiality on the part of the gym. She was a familiar presence who we now realize asked more friendly questions about us than she gave answers about herself. She often quizzed me about the characters in my writing and offered suggestions about my stories. In fact, she chatted so much on the exercise circuit that we'd often remind her to go to the next station in order to keep things moving. She accepted this with good humor and grace. One of the brief characters in my 2nd novel, Beyond Church Doors, reminds me of her. We still speak fondly of Ms.R and her antics on the circuit. We miss her.
Sylvia
www.sylviabrownroberts.com
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