I've Just Lost A Dear Friend

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Dear friends here at myLot, Yesterday was a very sad day for me. I lost a dear friend whom my family has known for more than 50 years. Her name was Gracie and she was 81. She was also my neighbor for 20+ years before I got married and moved out to stay elsewhere. We know her family very well and were very close to them. Only last Thursday, Gracie invited myself, my wife, my brother and his wife to her home to have dinner. She was a wonderful cook and weeks earlier, we had remarked to her that we missed her cooking. So when her daughter (who is working in England) returned two weeks ago for a holiday break, she decided that we should have a reunion over dinner. We had a wonderful fellowship. Last weekend, she went with her family on a short holiday and came back this Monday. On Tuesday, she was at her hairdressers. After the session, when she was on her way out of the shop, she suddenly collapsed down a flight of steps and slipped into a coma. She was in ICU at the hospital since Tuesday afternoon. The doctor found from the scan that she had suffered a major stroke, and when she collapsed and fell, the back of her skull fractured. His prognosis was very grim, and said that even if she survived, she would be in a vegetative state. She was on life support system. When I was told about the incident on Wednesday, I immediately visited her that night. I felt so sad seeing her in this state in the ICU. Her blood pressure was extremely low, in the 20's range only and the pressure had been dropping since admission. I felt so helpless...there was nothing I could do, but to see her lying there comatose and her life slipping away. When I came home that night, I received the sad news at midnight that she was gone. I felt a real sense of loss and sympathy for the family. Even now as I write this, tears are welling up in my eyes....it was so sudden, no one was really prepared for this. Friends, I've lost quite a few relatives and friends the past year, and this latest loss really saddens me greatly. I hope you will never have to go through this in your own life. Thanks for reading this. Your comfort will be a blessing to me at this time. Gracie was a dear grandmother, mother, neighbor and wonderful friend to all those who knew her and had the privilege of sharing their lives with her. She will always be remembered in the hearts of her loved ones.