I was at Sprout's the other day and I had to stop myself from buying Ms. Frieda her usual two bouquets. That's when I realized that I would miss seeing her always-sweet smile.
When I first met Ms. Frieda, she was a runner. That is, she had a walker but if she didn't want to do something, or she did, she sprinted away with it. I wasn't aware of any local friends until I happened upon a list for "The Swiss Ladies" and reaching out to them was the best thing I did, beyond letting Ms. Frieda have a deep-fried Twinkie at the OC Fair. We went to symphony until she had sepsis and then we cut back. All the while she enjoyed going out and never wanted to return to the place where she pushed the envelope of life. When I say that, it was because the local doctor suggested she would live maybe another 6 months after the g-tube. She almost broke the 100 mark but when I told her this, she just gave a little smile to tell me that she was okay with living to almost 100.
She has been my longest client -- just over 7 years now and I will miss taking her flowers and seeing her light up the room.
Be with Jim, and your sweet doggies, Vickie and Teddy Bear...
