B4 She Died, I Bought her Three (3) Strainers

It was her January birthday and I had flown from California to Maryland to watch her turn 64 in her new one-bedroom apartment within a 55+ community.

She was a childhood friend from my mid-to late- teenage years. I called her Lady Baltimore or sometimes WordGirl. She was like a soul mate without the sex. That doesn't come around all too often.

As she aged, her health declined. She was a vegetarian who ran track and pole danced. Imagine having that life(style) taken over with diabetes, kidney failure, hypertension, and electrolyte imbalance. We spoke daily except when she was in the hospital. And towards the end of life, she was in the hospital more times than not.

So what's up with the title? I visited her on her birthday in January in Frederick, Maryland. Mind you, I've been a Californian since 1985. I don't generally do snow and ice, but for her I would climb mountains. I brought my own tea because I have learned that when I travel, I never want to be reliant upon what others might have in their cupboards where the tea should be. (I've been in homes where the tea bags were leftover from Chinese take out!)

When it came time for me to brew a pot, I noted that she had no strainers. So, when I got her her beloved birthday cake, I made sure to pick up some strainers. They came in a pack of three.

She loved them. Then, two days later, she passed away.

Not a terribly exciting story. I told her son to keep them. Two of them had never been used.