Wifey and I have many things in common, and one of the most important is our group of true and lifelong friends. Elizabeth is at the top of the list.
She and Wifey met as FIU students in the late 70s, and grew quickly close. The two traveled to Jamaica a few years after they graduated, in 1979, and happened to be there when Bob Marley died in Miami. The Israeli American and Cubana attended that momentous funeral -- and it remained a treasured memory.
Elizabeth was living in Coconut Grove, and she and Wifey were poolside one day, when Elizabeth asked a long haired guy blasting his boom box to turn it down. The guy was Pat, who had scored a few gold records, and was playing his own music. The two married the next year.
I met Elizabeth in 1983, when she was still married to Pat, and have wonderful memories of their company. They'd stay with us in Miami, and we stayed with them in Orlando, where they had moved. After they divorced, it was clear who we'd keep, so to speak -- it was Elizabeth -and we traveled life's road with her from young adults to middle age, and now kind of the next level.
Elizabeth reinvented herself in her 40s, after a career as a saleswoman in pharmaceuticals -- she went back to college and got a second Bachelor's degree, in nursing, and then a MS to become a nurse practitioner. We were so proud of her.
Elizabeth visited us often, and became a wonderful aunt to the Ds. She adored them, and they her. When they were at UF, we would visit either on the way or returning from Gville. Later, when D1 would lecture for Zumba in Orlando, Elizabeth was proudly in the audience.
We last saw Elizabeth in late January of '20 at D2 and Jonathan's wedding. She was beaming -- as proud as if D2 was her own. She saw the grandson briefly as he was whisked to the car. It was a banner weekend.
During the plague, we'd speak often, and Zoomed a few times. We planned to finally hug again this Summer, as the Covid beast retreated.
I had a long chat with Elizabeth last week -- excited to go away on a hiking trip to Utah. She so loved being in nature. She was going with a group of other women -- they would hike during the day and drink fine wine and eat well at night. Wifey was a bit jealous -- though she would have skipped the hiking part.
Hilariously, she was paying for the trip with proceeds from the engagement ring from her ex husband Pat -- why keep a memento from a failed relationship when instead it would pay for a priceless memory? I loved hearing that.
Well, today I was driving Wifey to the Palace, and Elizabeth's sister Ruby called. Elizabeth had died in her sleep at the hotel following a long hike. No. We were stunned. We were sickened. We simply couldn't, and still can't process this awful news.
Elizabeth would have turned 64 in July. We shared a birthday month, and often celebrated together. This year for me will now be tinged with sadness. I feel as if I lost a sister.
Elizabeth was a truly beautiful woman -- inside and out. She only wished for people to share love, and appreciate natural beauty. She loved dogs -- long a dog mom herself, but since working so many hours at the hospital, became a doggy aunt to our pups instead.
The Ds are devastated. Wifey was a mess all afternoon. I process grief differently -- things will hit me in a few weeks.
And yet, something beautiful happened today. D2 was walking Betsy, the enormous puppy, and saw a small, older dog wandering in the street -- wearing socks, of all things -- and limping. The dog had no collar or tag.
She carried him back to her condo, had Jonathan bring Betsy upstairs, and headed to the vet with the little guy to check for a chip.
I was already thinking our family did not need any more dogs. What would D2 do if there was no chip? Simply abandon the old guy to Mary Street again?
Well -- the chip was there -- the dog was Bruce - and his owner raced over to the vet, beaming with thankfulness to D2. Bruce was old and had wandered away. D2 got him out of the street, where he might have died.
I have no doubt that Elizabeth's beautiful soul was somehow involved in this rescue. She loved dogs. Her niece of another mister, D2, did a wonderful thing. Elizabeth would have beamed. I like to think she is so beaming.
Ruby sent us the last texts Elizabeth sent, from Utah. She said the hike, of 8 miles at altitude, was the most grueling of her life, but she was so glad she did it -- to see the beauty. There were photos of the group of women with their guide. All were smiling in the bright Utah mountain light.
Apparently they returned to their hotel, had dinner, and then to their rooms. Elizabeth didn't show for breakfast. She passed during the night, in her sleep. Far too young, of course, but the death of a queen.
And we all feel the pain of her loss. Wifey, as I write, is outside sitting in an area by our front gate that Elizabeth planted for her. She was a master gardener. Wifey is going to have a special tree planted, to daily think of her dear sister.
And her memory will be a blessing. But for right now -- the pain is very new, and sharp.
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