Yes. I knit

I had a post all ready to go. One that was going to show you the new and fantastic stash enhancements I've gotten my hot little hands onto recently.

Then I got a phone call from a friend of mine, letting me know that another friend of ours had passed away.

Shannon had been battling cancer for over 2 years, and we recently heard that the treatments were no longer working, that she was no longer responding to them. And with her usual "This is not going to beat me!" attitude, Shannon declared that it wasn't over yet.

But her brave fight is now done, and she is no longer sick, no longer hurting.

I've known Shannon since elementary school, and we certainly had our ups and downs (I have a scar on my right hand from a brief fight we had over something foolish). We grew closer in jr high and high school, but drifted as you do as you grow up and become adults. We didn't always keep in best touch, an e-mail here...phone call there...just got busy with our lives.

Which is where my biggest regret comes into play: My knitting group rallied when I learned that her illness was no longer being treated and started work on a patchwork afghan for her. I even got my friend Melissa who lives away to send one (she was the one who called me with the news). I was collecting squares, waiting on making my own to see what the overall colour scheme would be, and feeling like I was doing something to help.

I was confident that we would have more than enough time to get the blanket finished and that I would have loads of time to get it to her.

But I didn't.

Please, dear reader, please say the things you want to say now. Do not wait. Do not lose touch. Don't count on tomorrow being there.

Love and hugs to all of you.

Take care of yourselves.