Saying goodbye

This blog was started as a result of numerous conversations that took place between the Bookman, Adele, Elspeth and me. The Bookman, who I guest blogged at, suggested that I start my own, since there was so much to talk about.

People come into your life and sometimes they stay, and sometimes they leave, the paint on your heart or make you so ill you never want to see them again. People. Who can understand them. But this is not a blog about random people. For the last six months or so, Death has wielded his scythe and cut a large swath through the people who have, at some point, populated my life.

That's life, you come two certainties, you come into this world and you leave this world. My sincerest wish is that Elspeth is dancing in somewhere beautiful, surrounded by the people who waited to welcome her into the next life...because she could no longer be a part of this one. Elspeth could be many things, Pollyanna, defender of alternative truths, optimist friend...she truly had a different view and approached life from the pragmatic point that by golly, we're just going to have to live it best we can. Her generosity of spirit led to the creation of a space that even though it's been closed now for five years, is still THE PLACE.

This is where we went to talk, it was the shop that we gathered in to share our lives, good, bad and indifferent. It was the shop that Elspeth had, a little quirky, a little intellectual, populated by a troupe of wacky players which for a long while, included me as I pasted my life back together, all presided over by her effervescent spirit and quick wit. We argued, we loved, relationships were made and broken in that shop. In creating her space, Elspeth gave voice to the different people and for this, we shall all be profoundly grateful.

But all good things must end and so it was. One day she acknowledged that she had lived that dream and it was time to move on to other dreams and to carve out a new reality. And she did so her own inimitable style, stamping her signature all over the corporate world. She blossomed and grew, but under it all, she was still Elspeth, a little quirky, a little optimistic and more practical than you would have thought.

And through out all the years that we walked the journey, still drinking countless cups of coffee, marathon phone conversations, Sunday afternoons at her house, talking, laughing....always with love. She will be missed by many, and remembered fondly by even more. The circle of life completed. Hippy, dippy, sometimes a little trippy, she will always be forever Elspeth. I love you and miss you my wonderful friend. Thank you for everything.