My Friend Ellen

I picked up the paper and read what they had written. "Ellen Dunbar, age 84 of Ashford, OH died Sunday in her home, she was preceded by her husband....." I sighed and put the paper down. I was thinking about all the things that were not said. Ellen Dunbar was a very special woman and very active in the community. She was also my best friend and had been since first grade.

I remembered her then as a little girl with freckles and no front teeth, her hair in two long braids down her back. She was always getting us in trouble, but I always went along because she was my best friend. I remember a long Thursday afternoon in fifth grade spent scrubbing down the bathroom because we were caught writing on the walls. I remember when she came to me in tears the last year of high school because she was pregnant and didn't know what to do.  I remember letters sent back and forth to her at the home while she was away, and remember holding her in my arms as she cried for the baby she would never see. I remember a couple years later her running to my house all excited because Joe had asked her to marry him, and her fear as she waited for word of him during the war. I remember how she worked long hours at the red cross trying to help any way she could and her compassion as she held the women whose husbands were lost even though her heart was still over there.

I remember the happy reunion when Joe came home and her happy tears at the wedding six months later. I can still feel the warmth of their first child in my arms as Ellen smiled up at me. I remember the fun of the cookout we had for her birthday two years later when her husband gave her a television for her birthday and how we sat in fascination and watched the people moving around on the screen as our children played quietly in the playpen. I remember watching our children grow and eventually get married and move away. I remember long talks as we tried to get used to not having the children to take care of.  Ellen was the one who decided that since neither of our husbands wanted us to work we should do volunteer work and I remember her excitement when our husbands agreed. I remember her holding me when my husband Frank was killed in a car accident, and holding her when she lost Joe to cancer five years later.  I remember her laughing when disco became the big thing, and reminding me when I laughed at the dancing our own jitterbug from our youth. I remember the shock of finding out she was seeing someone, and the joy of seeing her remarried, and my own marriage several years later.

More recently I remember her dedication to the youth building in our town. Her work with young girls who were pregnant, and the selfless way she gave time and energy to helping the girls get on their feet again. I remember her way of getting up extra early on Saturday mornings to bake cookies to take to the youth building, and the way she was tireless in collecting donations and food to assist the families. But of all the things I remember about her what I remember most is timeless. I remember her open smile that made you smile right back, her love for all children, her compassion for those who's hearts were broken, and her selfless giving in everything she did. I remember that she was always someone you could go to no matter what, nothing shocked Ellen. No obituary could tell you all this about my wonderful friend.

I stood at her grave this afternoon as they lowered her into the ground, and all these thoughts washed over me. It was as if that television Joe got for her birthday was on and the story of our lives was playing. I am alone now; Ellen is gone and her husband a year before her. My second husband Bill passed away three years ago. My daughter was killed in a plane crash, and my son lives halfway around the world caught up in his own life. For now I will continue her work, and make arrangement so that her work will not die with her. That was an agreement we had, that whoever outlived the other would take care of.  I soon will join her and look forward to seeing her again. She will smile at me and then rush off to show me everything. I will smile and follow her, simply because she is Ellen....  my very best friend.

Author's Note

I was doing some web browsing and came across an obituary. I was inspired to write this, this is not my norm so feel free to let me know if you see something that could make it better.

Reviews

[Deborah Leah Krempa]

I also thought this was a true story. It is truely a wonderfully written short story. You are quite talented. Thank you for sharing. Debileah