Thursday, November 6, 2008

Erika

A friend from high school contacted me today. We keep in touch through email, but I haven't spoken to her in years. It was a strange familiarity to hear her voice again. She told me that another friend from high school had died this week. Her name was Erika.

Erika and I went to the Catholic high school in my town for our freshman and sophomore years. We didn't have any classes together and never really knew each other. We both happened to transfer to the same public high school for our junior year. We were put in the same orientation and almost immediately became friends.

I hadn't talked to Erika in at least 10 years. The friend I spoke with today told me that Erika never married. She lived in Arizona and she was happy.

It is strange to think that someone my age could just die. Erika was alone in her apartment the night she died. She called 911 and was found dead when the paramedics arrived. They are doing an autopsy but it appears to be a natural death. When did we become so old?

I know it is selfish of me to think this way, but how could this happen to my friend? my age? my classmate?

Even though I hadn't spoken to Erika in many years, I feel like I just lost of piece of my past. She is the only person who knew about trips to the post office and singing Springsteen in the snow, oh and the Mann Music Center.

I will miss you, Erika.

5 comments:

Cathy said...

What a shock--I'm so sorry for your loss.

Michelle said...

Oh I'm so not looking forward to when this starts happening to me (and I'm sure it has but that I just haven't heard it yet). The whole thing gave me goose bumps, and not in the good way!

tutietutu said...

Scary. So sorry for your loss.

girlytwins said...

I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. I just recently found out that one of my oldest friends was diagnosed with breast cancer and has to have both her breasts removed at 31. If anything I hope that our friends help remind us how precious life is and to live it to it's fullest.

bernthis said...

I said to a friend of mine: When you hit your forties, there aren't anymore wedding invites or baby showers. Sadly, it's phone calls reporting the death of a peer, a parent or some kind of illness.

It's so so sad.