SUSAN ROSE: THE LONG GOOD BYE

Susan Rose was a friend of mine who I haven't seen since the mid 80s.  Although Susan and I were about the same age and attended high school not far from each other, I never knew her then.  It was in the mid 70s I suppose that I first met Susan in Lawrence, Kansas.  At first, I knew her mainly as the best friend of a best friend.  Later we developed a sort of friendship of our own.  We hung out together as friends do.  Once I asked her out on an actual  "date" and she accepted.  It was a very strange evening to say the least.  When I kissed her goodnight, we both broke up laughing...realizing that we were friends, not people who "dated."  And so we were.  I last visited her during a road trip around the country when she was living near Nashville, of all places.  It was the last time I saw her.  Susan was a nurse first with a heart of gold.  She was fun with an incredible spirit and a wonder lust to match. She and her sister, Barb, also gone now, were quite a pair. As time went on, life wasn't all that kind to Susan, in fact, at times it was damn rough, but she persevered.  Susan had moved back to Lawrence several years ago and I often thought of reconnecting, but I never did, so like me.  I regret that. To be honest, I don't even know how she died, just that it was unexpected (like a lot of things in her life).  Anyway, a few of you who read this may have crossed path with Susan over the years, and for all of those who didn't, you missed out.  


I grabbed the picture  below off her obituary.  Susan would have a had a cow if she had seen it...and then laughed and laughed...and maybe, in the end, shed a few tears over some things that might have been, but never were.


Farewell, Susan.