My closest friend, from age ten and on through my twenties was Ann Elizabeth Miller Roth. She was older than I by about four years, and today she would have been 70.
The last time I saw Ann, I teased her that she would “soon” be forty. She never made that milestone, dying at 37 in a car accident in Florida with her husband.
We often talked about what we would do when we were old. Now that I am actually old, I miss her almost more than I did, back when our lives were consuming us. I was a huntsman, and Ann became a veterinarian, like her husband, and we always expected that our paths would converge again.
So, today, I celebrate this milestone, like many since 1988, without Ann, but thinking of her.
Happy birthday, old friend.
Stay safe, stay well, carry your friends with you always. Peace.
Peace đź’™
A nice tribute to a very special person in your life. And you are not old. Is is when you stop caring, and I still wonder when that is!
I think of “aging” as racking up years. Some do it more gracefully than others, and some continue to astonish in their curiosity and learning. Some glide a long on memories, those being the lucky ones to have such fond memories. Some redefine themselves. I keep sating “some,”what are we, those that have racked up some significant years? Well we’re a blip in time. The earth is 4.543 billion years old. That’s old! We are not. We are what we think we are. Well, Anne, you got me thinking. I am quite fascinated by the whole business of aging. I lost my oldest and best friend when we were 48. Sometimes I think, Lucky you! You are outa here! Mostly I sympothize with what she missed. And, my God I miss our laughter! Little smartasses we were, often called irreverent. Rebelious in character, yet wanting to make the world a better place. Isn’t it wonderful to have had a friend so close we still miss them?
I’m so sorry to hear about Ann being taken so young. She was very lucky to have you for such a friend Anne.