Shock And Sadness

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“LIFE ISN’T ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF.

LIFE IS ABOUT CREATING YOURSELF.”

                                   George Bernard Shaw

 

It seems that I have to deal with the news of the death of a friend on way to frequent a basis.  Very little shocks me as I watch the news anymore, in fact it is more wearisome than shocking.  But I almost fell off my chair at the news of the death of my friend Patsy Terrell.

Patsy was a long time acquaintance and a person that I considered to be a friend.  She was bright and articulate, a great writer, a very personable conversationalist.  She was also a great cook and she shared that with so many people with her recipes and articles in publications around the state.

Patsy created herself and what an interesting person she was.  In her latest incarnation she represented the Hutchinson area in the State Legislature.  Not being there I can take by her writings that she was a bulldog in her beliefs while in Topeka and I am sure this will be shared as time goes on.

Many of my friends are of the age that it is not a surprise when they pass.  Grief is natural and is a fact of life.  Early on most of my friends that were my age died too soon and I harbor a grudge against cancer as it has been a too frequent companion in my life.  But the sudden without warning occurrence of someone so active, young, young at heart, and someone who values many traditions is a shock.

Many close friends that have Patsy in common are in grief and disbelief.  It is a continuing grieving process anymore to wake up.  As one famous person said not long ago, “the first thing I do is read the obituaries when I get up, if I am not there I have breakfast.”  Maybe a comic point, but a real one.

It is a loss to the people she represented, the people of the state, family, and many friends, including myself, that we will no longer be able to read, hear, or be touched by a truly good person.  The world is too short on people like Patsy Terrell.  We benefited by knowing her and are grieved by losing her.

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