Death nudged me today.

Just to say, Remember

I will be your escort one day.

She was a friend of childhood,

A bosom buddy in a mutable time.

We were close, two coats of paint.

Teen dances at the gym

Girlhood angst

Secrets whispered and shared

A rambunctious orb of energy

Her infectious laugh

Reached the corners of my preteen world

She, the adventurer

I, the eager sidekick

Exploring adolescence together

A blueberry summer, picking for money

Her buckets overflowed, mine barely topped

She reaped a summer salary, I lasted two days

Blessed with natural athleticism,

She excelled in gymnastic maneuvers.

My feet refused to leave the ground.

An enthusiastic cheerleader, she leaped

My leaps fell short, I tried

My place in the bleachers assured

By high school, our paths diverged

Friendship, a shadow

Not gone, just faded

Our last summer together after school

She led the way, I followed

Clerks at an insurance agency

She married, I married

She had a baby, I had a baby

Then two, and one extra for me

Ambitious and motivated

She had her own business.

I focused on three children.

Our contact was sparse

Never completely closing the gap

To reclaim friendship

She moved, I moved

She divorced, I didn’t

The contours of our lives unaligned

She moved to the desert, Las Vegas

I moved to the desert, Tucson

No contact for decades.

She reached out

A year ago, email

Stage 4 cancer was the verdict.

I sent prayers, encouragement,

Cards and emails for months.

She died.

The phantom of our friendship

Rests in my heart.

I see her smile, her laugh an echo.

It will be my turn someday

To dance with death.

Again, she led the way.