The Bus Stop

The school bus stop in our town is so far from our homes that we drive our children down there,and are there to pick them up in the afternoon,so if you have 3 kids you could spend a considerable amount of time at the bus stop.Now,I'd gone to school with one neighbor on the hill.I went to school with Beverly. She's around my age,with kids around my age,so when I first started going to the bus stop,I knew at least one person.Thru Beverly,I got to know her sister-in-law,another neighbor,Celeste.I immediately clicked with this small group,and I can't begin to count the mornings and afternoons we spent together down at the bus stop.We shared intimate details of our lives,and knew they would go no further,and laughed and cried over our husbands and kids down there.Celeste,when we found out about Tonys' developmental delays,became a mentor to me,having been down that road with her youngest son.She helped me thru a lot of tears.Various other people came and went,but the 3 of us have been there for 18 years.Even after our children graduated,and we didn't hook up at the bus stop anymore,all it took was a call,or a word,to bring on laughter or tears.We were always there for each other.This morning Beverly called me,to tell me that Celestes' battle with cancer is over.She fought for 10 years,but the cancer just kept coming back.

I lost my sister Sharon to cancer on May 5th.She was my artistic mentor,there is nothing she could not draw,and she was so creative,just out of this world.Sharon was someone who loved me and always looked out for me.The beginning of my green thumb came from her and a poor asparagus fern she gave me when Steve and I got married.I lost a loving 'net friend to cancer [Candy to you KF'ers]a few weeks later,and for you KFers' I really couldn't come into KF and talk about losing a sister to the same disease taking Candy,YKWIM?.I got her for the Secret Santa this year,and all she wanted was a bonsai tree,how can you not love somone who wants a tree for heavens'sake?Her brownie creations will always be the talk of KF.And now Celeste.3 beautiful,inspiring,smart,loving women,all dead of cancer within 3 months of each other.

I read articles about how we're winning the war against cancer,blah-blah-blah.I call Bullshit on that.This is Sharons last letter to me.She made a postcard showing how she felt about chemo,and her bald head.THIS isn't winning.