Knowing how it is

I talked to my friend, Margaret, tonight. I had tried to call her a couple of times since Michael died to tell her, but she wasn't home and I didn't want to leave a message with that kind of news.

Margaret married George and they tried for several years to have a child before Anna Marie was born 10 years ago. Four months later, George died suddenly of a stroke.

George and Margaret were the happiest couple I knew, and his death was a horrible blow. We called it the biggest tragedy of our lives then. I still think of it as the second-biggest tragedy of my life.

George and Rob were friends since childhood and we've kept in touch with Margaret through the years. She lives north of Knoxville, about 3 hours from here, and she and Anna Marie visit two or three times a year. I just love Anna Marie because she loves to get silly with me. We can sit in the hot tub for hours doing very silly things with Rubber Duckie. She's a great kid and I see both her parents in her sense of humor and intelligence.

She likes to hike, just like her father did. I have wonderful memories of hiking with George and Margaret, of getting lost and having to cross rather brisk mountains streams barefoot. So maybe he and Michael are lost in the woods, fly fishing somewhere, smoking cigarettes and complaining about how few people really appreciate good food.

Marg and I talked about how life goes on after the loss of a soulmate and it's never the same. It can hit you like a 2 x 4 years later. I know these things, and I know life will be good and funny again.