Wednesday, January 01, 2014

A Hole in My Universe

Tonight I learned that the person who taught me how to live has died. 

Sara Leigh Gray (May 26, 1956 - December 31, 2013 or January 1, 2014) was my best friend in this world and beyond. I met her in Kenedy, Texas when we were in 7th grade. I'd lived in the area all my short life and she had ended up there after her father took a job managing the uranium mine located outside of Falls City, Texas. I should say that ending up in Kenedy was much to her dismay. However, it was one of the major blessings of my life.

I've written about Sara before and what she has meant to me. I meant every word. And there is no reason to reiterate what I have already said. But if you hadn't read it, read it here: Best Friends. Thankfully, this was written for Sara's birthday a couple of years ago and she had read it and knew how much she meant to me.

I am grieving tonight because the world and I have lost a woman who cared passionately about justice and right, and who loved me, despite the fact that I am, in so many ways the polar opposite of her. She wasn't famous and never aspired to be. She lived a quiet life with her partner, Mike, who is in shock and grieving tonight hoping to wake from this nightmare of a world without Sara. She was a woman of integrity who cared deeply about those she loved, had an incredible work ethic, and wanted nothing more than her quiet life while holding onto a hope that the idiots out there running the world would not run it into the ground. And I am grieving because never again will she be on the other end of a phone call, or will I open my email to see a long overdue message from her. There is a void in my life which will never be filled. I am desolate and I want her back.

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