There is no friend like an old friend.   Especially one that you have lost contact with, yet wanted to talk to again.    I had such a  friend and she re-entered my life this last week.

     When I found out that I had Primary Peritoneal Carcinoma, I sent out an email to many friends to let them know about this change in my life.   Expectedly, a few emails were “undeliverable”.   One of the undeliverable emails was a great disappointment to me because I dearly love this woman.   I so wanted her to know what I am going through and to visit with her again but I guess it was not to be. 

   Louise came into my life back in the 1990’s when we met in a Senior dance group.    I wasn’t old enough at that time to be considered a “senior”, but they let me dance with them anyway.   There came a time when I needed to go on a trip somewhere and I was looking for someone to dog sit my precious little white ball of fluff.    I recalled that Louise had a little dog of her own and asked if she would be interested in a business agreement in watching my little dog for a few days. 

    Well, the agreement worked out great and she and her husband soon started watching my pet whenever I had to go to work.   I was a Flight Attendant at the time and they would have my dog for several days at a time while I was gone.    Her kind husband would even come to my home and pick her up for me.

   Over the years we became very close and I still consider her to be one of my dearest friends even though she is closer to my Mother’s age than she is to mine.   We always had a lot of fun together, no matter what we did because she is such a vibrant, outgoing woman who likes to have a good time.      After her husband passed away,  she eventually moved to a far away city and the emails became very infrequent.  She then moved three other times, and changed email servers and I lost contact with her.   Until last week.

    Last Friday evening when I went to the mailbox, there was a mailing envelope with something soft in it for me.  I looked at the return address because I was not expecting anything from anyone and I wanted to see who it was from.   It was from Louise!!!   I could hardly wait to get home and open the package.  Not because I wanted to see what was contained in the package, but because I wanted to read the little note that I hoped would be inside.  But no note was included and I was disappointed.

      But then I looked at what was inside the package.   I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.   On the walk home, I could tell that the package contained something soft and I thought that perhaps she had come across something that had something to do with something we did together and she was sending it to me.   But I was not prepared for what she had actually sent me.  It was a fabulous purple wig!!!   In that instant I knew that she knew that I had lost all of my hair to the Chemo therapy of my cancer treatment and that she had to have read my blog to know all of this.  I am laughing  (at the wig) and crying(because I am so happy to hear from her) and crying because she knows I am sick and laughing because she sent me something so fun.

    We were back in touch again and I would not let this chance pass.   I immediately wrote her return address in my new address book.  I then sat right down and wrote her a thank you note.  It wouldn’t get mailed until Monday because of the July 4th holiday, but this most important note was already written and ready to be sent off. 

    It was several days later that my dead computer was fixed and I was able to access my emails.   There was one from Louise in there.   From the return email address, I see that she has changed servers yet again.   Her email has been in my inbox for almost a week — the length of time that my computer has been out of order.  But I am thrilled to have her email address.   I send a quick reply thanking her and asking her to be sure to give me her phone number and I forget about it.

    Two days later,  I am sitting at my computer,  trying to get my files  back where they belong and waiting for Dell Tech Support to call me back when the phone rings.   I do not recognize the Caller ID number and almost don’t answer the phone, but I do.  There is a strange voice on the other end and she asks for me by name.  It is Louise!   We have a wonderful, emotional, fun, serious  conversaiton for about two hours.   We are back in touch and will stay in touch now.

   As we travel through our lives we will have many acquaintances and several friends, but only a few will touch our hearts in that special way.  Louise is that kind of friend for me and I love her.