The Death of (another) Friend

Once again I have been hit with the death of a friend. I don’t know how to handle this death and it has hit me hard.

She would kill me if she knew I used this picture, but it is one of many fun times we shared

In 2002 I was working for a family owned business which did payroll for their four moving companies. I had neck surgery and was going to be out of work for at least three months during recovery and even longer when all was said and done. The company hired Janet to fill in for me which eventually turned into a permanent job for her when I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and could not return.

Janet had a big job on her hands and a short time to learn it. Doing payroll for five different companies is not an easy task and in the short time I had to train her I did my best to remember everything but left my phone number with Janet and assured her I would do whatever I could to help her get through the learning process. This would be what tied our friendship together and made us still friends eleven years later.

We spent a lot of time on the phone at first as I relayed how to get through the task she was confused on.  In the first few months after the surgery I could do nothing but lie on the bed so her calls were welcomed. Eventually the need lessened but our friendship didn’t. It only became stronger. She was caring and became better at the job than I ever was. She never forgot the color coding system I set up for each of the companies and always told me this was the one thing that helped her the most when dealing with that many different payrolls.  She always complimented me on how I was able to organize so much material and how much easier it made her job.

This last year I have not had a vehicle so our visits became less.  Just yesterday I thought I need to call her and get together because it has been way too long. But once again I am having problems with my vehicle. She lives 22 miles away from my house so we are not close. Lastly I don’t like to call her at work and by the time she was home I had forgotten. I hate that I did not follow through on that call.

Today I got an instant message on Facebook from one of the employees from the company asking me if I had heard she had passed away. I thought maybe they were talking about another employee when I realized there were no other Janet’s I knew of. I was shocked (and still am). I don’t know much more than it happened this morning and I was told she had an aneurism. I am stunned, I cannot believe she is gone and will no longer be calling me to do lunch or just call to talk.

This whole thing makes my heart hurt and my eyes leak. What happened? Had she not been feeling well? Did she go to sleep and just not wake up? I have so many questions but I am no longer in the loop and am not sure I will ever know. All I do know is that I lost one of my dearest friends and that really sucks.