If my friend Lynn had survived her bout with cancer she would have been 46 today.
And it's funny, because in Turkey it marks a very sombre event, the passing of the modern republic's founder Mustafa Kemal Pasa Ataturk.
Lynn was staying at my apartment in Istanbul some years ago. It was a typical morning and Lynn being the sort of person that she was, wasn't making a fuss about her birthday and was happily reading the Guardian and drinking tea. Suddenly we heard several great blasts from the ferry boats and ships that ply the Bosforus, echoing from shore to shore and lasting about a minute. It shook the tea glasses! The ships were signalling 9:05 am, the time of the leader's passing. We chuckled at the irony of it.
Lynn was an amazing person, one of the smartest and kindest people I have had the privilege of knowing. Even as she grew more and more ill, she was sharp and alert. Some years ago, she had passed onto me a pair of wonderful Ojibwa slippers and she told me at the time the name of the person who made them. Lynn herself had had these slippers for a number of years. I, of course, didn't write it down, and soon forgot. When I was visiting her in hospice I asked her if she remembered them. "Oh yeah," she said, "Why?"
"Well do you remember who made them?"
"Lucy Knot. You can't forget a name like Lucy Knot. I always remember it because you must have had to tie a lot of knots to make those slippers"
That's how I remember it now, too.
Here's to you, Red! Wherever you are!
Lynn Macfie
November 10, 1962 - September 27, 2007
November 10, 1962 - September 27, 2007
4 comments:
Such a kind way to remember a friend.
It is lovely to find your post.....here in the wee hours of 2009 I am thinking about Lynn and absentmindedly googling.....so nice to come upon the post....so nice
Now it's years later - 2014 has just started - and I stumbled across your post too. I was a friend and roommate of Lynn's for a couple of years long ago, and I'm glad I knew her. She was terrific. Thanks for the memory.
How lovely. I just bumped into an old friend I had in common wiht Lynn and we chatted about her today. I just wanted to read something about her tonight and found this posting.
Thank you.
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