I lost my best friend, Diane, this morning. I’ve known it was coming for several months but I still wasn’t ready for it when I got the call.

Diane and I were friends for more than 40 years; we didn’t share our childhoods but we certainly shared all our adult (or almost-adult) life. I remember meeting her at the theatre in Fort Smith; I was working and she accompanied her brother and his wife to the movie. I have no idea what the movie was but our friendship started and grew from that moment.

I left Fort Smith for Inuvik and she left a bit later to go to Hinton, AB and then back North to Cambridge Bay and Rankin Inlet. We met again when we were both back in Yellowknife, but there were always letters (real mail) between us. I left Yellowknife for Vancouver and just a few months later Diane moved to Edmonton and then on to Vancouver. It was a real blow when Diane and Brian moved to Ontario, but we had lots of phone calls, e-mails and visits. Diane and Brian came to Powell River to help me celebrate my 60th birthday and I made two trips to their home in Ontario.

I have reminders of Diane all over the house, items she bought for me and items she and Brian made for me over the years. I don’t need a physical reminder of her, and as my eyes roam over her many gifts I hope this overwhelming sadness will lessen.