It’s been a while since I’ve Posted. I have been preoccupied with my daughter, and Ed, who is recovering from a triple heart bypass which has improved his mood no end, and, yes, that’s irony. The most recent tragedy to enter my lfie is that my dearest New York City friend has died of cancer. Her name was Julie. It took a while for me to discover this. I tried to reach her, left messages, no response. So I looked up her daughter and found her on line along with Julie’s obituary. I was shocked and devastated. The news was horrendous. She died the day after my birthday in September. So every morning when I wake up now, I feel her loss.

Julie was about 15 years younger than me. We met when we were both editorial assistants at Harper & Row (now Harper-Collins), sharing a space just outside the offices of our editors. We became friends. Julie left Harper’s to become a New York City school teacher. She did that about 5 years and left when she got married.

I remember riding around Brooklyn with her. She was driving. Some teens were horsing around while crossing the street in front of us, and Julie muttered “don’t tempt me.” Apparently she had had her fill of in-your-face inner-city students.

About two years ago Julie experienced her own tragedy. Her husband died suddenly. She was fighting a recurrence of cancer, and I am sure her grief diid not ease her path, but she soldiered on, trying to organize the household, deal with the bills, and the massive amount of paperwork left behind. So she is gone. It is a reminder of the instant tragedies that can impact one’s life.

I remind everyone that I am not seeing your most recent posts unless I go after each one. I changed my e mail, notified Eddie, he said he changed it, but I am still not getting notifications. I’ll try to keep up.

Love to everyone,

xx. Teal