Friends

Two of my closest friends died last year. 

Their phone numbers are still in the Favorites section on my phone, and I just can’t make myself remove them. 

Angie passed away first, in August, followed by Jo Ann in November. Jo always called us the Three Musketeers. 

It stings a little every time I see their names on my phone, which is every day. Logically, I know that removing their numbers wouldn’t cancel my love for them or cause me to forget them. Still, it feels disloyal somehow. 

The two of them were long-time best friends (I was a latecomer to the relationship) who had very different personalities. 

Jo was outgoing and loved to tell funny stories, mostly about the crazy things she had said or done. She could laugh at herself and make everybody else laugh, too. She was fiercely determined, absolutely independent and strong-willed. There was no changing her mind once she’d decided on something. Jo wasn’t private about most things. She posted many of her thoughts and opinions on social media, including about her terminal lung disease. 

Angie was more reserved. She held much inside. She smiled often, but hardly every belly-laughed the way Jo frequently did. Angie, too, was very independent and strongly determined. She had a positive outlook, even when she was very sick the last couple of years of her life. Angie’s strength was quiet and solid. She rarely posted on social media, but when she did it was never personal and was always encouraging. She asked her family and friends to refrain from mentioning her illness on their social media. Angie was far too private for that. 

Jo used to tell a story that epitomized their differences. They were visiting a friend in the hospital and decided to have lunch in the cafeteria. Jo went outside to smoke (which she quit years ago). On her way back in, she accidentally walked face-first into a glass wall. She always laughed as she acted out, in dramatic mime-like fashion, the moment that she bounced off the glass. Back inside the cafeteria, she sat down across from Angie and doubled over in laughter at herself. “Did you see that?” she asked Angie after she finally caught her breath. In her typical calmness, Angie simply said, “I saw it,” as she raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth. I can imagine the look of slight exasperation on Angie’s face. Jo even thought that Angie’s lack of a reaction was funny. 

Despite their opposite personalities, Angie and Jo had much in common. Both practiced a strong Christian faith. They both were supremely loyal to their families and friends, especially to each other. 

And they both loved me. Life is not the same without them. I wonder when, and if, I’ll ever remove their names from my Favorites list. 

-Melanie Patterson

© Forged in Words 2021

Angie bought us these matching shirts for Christmas a couple of years ago. From left is me, Angie and Jo Ann.