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Saturday
March 20, 2010 Since 1922 |
A dispatch from the community
By Jane Howard Lee
Contributor Published October 15, 2009 A woman contacted us at The Sun and asked if we could print a letter she had written. It was written about something that was very important to her and she wanted very much to share it with the community.
I told her that it might work as a Letter to the Editor and said for her to send it to me. It turned out that her letter would not work for that because it was too long. Rules regarding that are quite specific.
Rather than cut her letter down to size I asked our editors if I could run it in my column where I can use more space. Permission granted by the editors and also from the sender, I'll now share that letter, from Linda Hendricks of Highlands, with you. The subject is friends.
• • •
I've never considered myself a writer, though I've written many "Letters to The Editor" in my life. Today's letter is different and by far the hardest I have ever written.
This past week I lost one of my oldest and dearest friends. We gathered on Sunday to celebrate her life. As we met I began to remember our past lives. Over 34 years ago she introduced my husband and I and later became my Maid of Honor at our wedding.
I remembered our childhood as we watched pictures of her life. There were six of us that God put together in elementary school and our friendship continued throughout junior high and high school. Along the way we enjoyed the simple ways of life, including riding bikes to Roseland Park to swim, watching all day movies at the kiddie show, participating in Brownies and later Girl Scouts and many slumber parties. We had so much fun just being together, talking about parents, boys and our futures.
After school we began our grown-up lives. Some of us married young while others went off to college. One even joined the military. We still talked on the phone even with those who had moved away and we had many conversations about married life and raising children.
We've been blessed to make many other friends in our lives through our work and church but none took the place of the original six. As our children became grown, we began to meet at least once a year and gather over a meal to just enjoy being together.
In our young lives some of us came under the influence of that tempting cigarette. Some were able to kick the habit and some just couldn't. My friend was one of those who could not. Slowly it began to develop into emphysema and that, together with lung cancer, took her life all too soon at age 69. She left a brother and sister, two wonderful adult children, many grandchildren, nieces and nephews and many, many friends. She also had many pets in her lifetime and dearly loved them all.
My message today is to please stay in touch with your friends whether it is a friendship that started many years ago or just recently. Tell them how much their friendship means to you. Send birthday cards to let them know you care, even though you may visit often. God gives us different friends throughout our lives who give us so many memories. Some friends may come and then go but these experiences help us to grow, hopefully to become more caring individuals.
Jane Howard Lee is a reporter for The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published October 15, 2009 A woman contacted us at The Sun and asked if we could print a letter she had written. It was written about something that was very important to her and she wanted very much to share it with the community.
I told her that it might work as a Letter to the Editor and said for her to send it to me. It turned out that her letter would not work for that because it was too long. Rules regarding that are quite specific.
Rather than cut her letter down to size I asked our editors if I could run it in my column where I can use more space. Permission granted by the editors and also from the sender, I'll now share that letter, from Linda Hendricks of Highlands, with you. The subject is friends.
• • •
I've never considered myself a writer, though I've written many "Letters to The Editor" in my life. Today's letter is different and by far the hardest I have ever written.
This past week I lost one of my oldest and dearest friends. We gathered on Sunday to celebrate her life. As we met I began to remember our past lives. Over 34 years ago she introduced my husband and I and later became my Maid of Honor at our wedding.
I remembered our childhood as we watched pictures of her life. There were six of us that God put together in elementary school and our friendship continued throughout junior high and high school. Along the way we enjoyed the simple ways of life, including riding bikes to Roseland Park to swim, watching all day movies at the kiddie show, participating in Brownies and later Girl Scouts and many slumber parties. We had so much fun just being together, talking about parents, boys and our futures.
After school we began our grown-up lives. Some of us married young while others went off to college. One even joined the military. We still talked on the phone even with those who had moved away and we had many conversations about married life and raising children.
We've been blessed to make many other friends in our lives through our work and church but none took the place of the original six. As our children became grown, we began to meet at least once a year and gather over a meal to just enjoy being together.
In our young lives some of us came under the influence of that tempting cigarette. Some were able to kick the habit and some just couldn't. My friend was one of those who could not. Slowly it began to develop into emphysema and that, together with lung cancer, took her life all too soon at age 69. She left a brother and sister, two wonderful adult children, many grandchildren, nieces and nephews and many, many friends. She also had many pets in her lifetime and dearly loved them all.
My message today is to please stay in touch with your friends whether it is a friendship that started many years ago or just recently. Tell them how much their friendship means to you. Send birthday cards to let them know you care, even though you may visit often. God gives us different friends throughout our lives who give us so many memories. Some friends may come and then go but these experiences help us to grow, hopefully to become more caring individuals.
Jane Howard Lee is a reporter for The Baytown Sun.