Good-bye my friend…

I lost a friend today.

That’s not true, I didn’t lose her. Cancer took her away. Barb was diagnosed about 4 years ago with the breast cancer that took her life. I wish you could have met her. She was seven different kinds of awesome wrapped up in a layer of kick-ass. She was loving, determined, smart, stubborn, devoted, courageous, and optimistic (and a whole lot more). The kick-ass? She was a fourth degree black belt in Taekwon-Do!

We met in Lamaze class and it was one of those times when two couples just kind of “click”. We had a blast in class! Sometimes too much of a blast. We were occasionally told to pipe down with our class clowning ways. The laughter floating out of our corner table was making it a bit tough for the rest of the group to hear. *pretending-to-be-rueful-look*

We birthed our babies within 4 days of one another. Barb was a bit worried that Echo would jump the gun and beat K-Man given my struggle with pre-term labor but I convinced Echo she needed to let the guy who was due first come first. It was touch-and-go but we got to visit Barb in the hospital just before heading there ourselves for the hard work of birthing our own baby.

Barb was my first breastfeeding compatriot. She was one of the first women I actually saw breastfeeding. We nursed together. We compared notes. We shared tips and I watched her as she balanced working full-time with pumping to make sure that K-Man got breastmilk even when she wasn’t with him. She was the second woman I knew to breastfeed for a full year and she taught me a lot as she hung up the horns at work and then weaned her little guy.

We’ve lived in different cities for many years now. Each of us had another little girl and both little girls were again breastfed.

When Barb decided to stop treatment I called to see if a visit would be possible. At the beginning of May I was able to go back and watch Barb and her partner Mo renew their vows and legally marry one another after being married +13 years. You know how sometimes you look at two people as they look at one another and their love shines so bright and clear that it’s almost painful to see? That was Barb and Mo. Their love was so *there* you could almost touch it. It was in their hands and their voices and their lips as they smiled but mostly it was in their eyes as they looked at one another.

I lost my friend today. Mo lost the love of her life. K-Man and Miss M. lost their mom. Barb and Mo’s family lost a sister and an aunt and a cousin and a niece.

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She was wonderful and she will be missed.

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Susan G. Komen for the Cure was Barb’s Breast Cancer charity of choice. If you are looking for an organization for your charitable contributions I encourage you to give this organization consideration.

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