Good Ole Ter

A close family friend's health has been declining so much these past few years that she's become a shell of a human being. Terri was always the fun, silly one who was full of love for everyone and gave the best reactions to good news. "Terri, guess what?! I bought cute, hot pink slippers and they are so warm!" "Oh my gosh, that's AWESOME!! Where did you get them? What's the brand? Were they on sale? I love slippers. I'm so happy you found ones that you like!" She was always, and to a small degree still is, so happy to see me or hear from me. Now her short-term memory is shot and conversations are reduced to small talk. Most recently she's begun to struggle with remembering to look at text messages or answer the phone. Mum and I kept waiting for her kids to grow up and head off to college so that she'd have time for us again. We daydreamed of going out for pizza together and to see a movie at the old Ritz, like we used to, but it's looking more and more like that will never happen again. Her future is scary, because it seems like there won't be one for her. Stumbling upon this voice mail from October 26th of 2019 made me miss the Terri I knew for so many years.