Gestures
I never thought of expressing my thoughts like this until recently when another person in my life died. It's been over three years since Hope died and I was thinking of her. We were friends for nearly 30 years and shared a passion for writing. That's how we met, by accident, when I wrote a story and she wrote a story about the Underground Railroad for the Post-Star. The editor combined our stories, maybe intentionally without telling us because my story covered Warren County and hers covered Washington County. Somehow they put our story as the headline story on the front page of the Sunday paper. It led to us being invited to speak at the Chapman Museum, but we didn't even know each other at the time. So, that was how our friendship began.
We did quite a lot together, concerts, dinners, nights out here and there, sometimes with Eve and other family members. I eventually moved out of the area but we stayed in touch and talked on the phone regularly about our writing. I recall when her Aunt died how upset she became. But she came through and then met Joe Morgan. I never did meet him; I was in Ohio by then. I think the last time I saw her was when I did a presentation at the bookstore in Saratoga. He was supposed to come but didn't make it. She was a warm person and had a sweet manner, and a good friend. I can still hear her voice.
I went to school with Hope at UNIS and have fond memories of her as a kind and thoughtful person. I was so saddened to hear of her passing. My thoughts are with Joe and her family.