My friend’s mom just died. Having witnessed the aftermath of Jeremy’s dad’s death, I know a few things to do and a few things NOT to do, but I still don’t know the awfulness of losing a parent. Especially when it’s relatively quick and unexpected.
So I commented on her Facebook post, “Oh, Mandy! I’m so sorry!” and then later took a card and restaurant gift card and a frappucino over and hugged her while we both cried, and then left after a short visit. We are good enough friends that I’m 99% sure she would tell me if she didn’t want a visit. It was good. We even laughed a little bit.
As I walked out the door, she started cackling and said, “Do you know you have a sticker on your back that says, ‘TERRIFIC!’” I said, “No, but you can blame my kids.” Emmy puts fruit stickers on my face while I’m still sleeping, and sometimes I will get all the way to the gym before I realize they’re there. Sometimes I walk in and get a couple of smiles from good-looking people. I think, “Yeaaaah, all this hard work is finally paying off!” and then I pass the mirrors into the locker room, and it’s just a pink lady sticker on my left cheekbone.
So I got home and told Jeremy about that. He said, “Oh, that was me this time.” He said this to me while standing in front of me with his shoes untied, and I said, “I have THREE CHILDREN.” We laughed. It was good.
It was a sad day, but a satisfying day. I did things that a good friend does, right? And wasn’t completely obnoxious and socially awkward for a change. I laughed with my husband, went to the park with my kids, conquered the monkey bars.
Then I just checked Facebook again. I didn’t write, “Oh, Mandy! I’m so sorry.”
I wrote, “Oh, MANY! I’m so sorry.”
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