I've lost my dear friend, Susan.
Those six words don't come close to portraying the loss, nor do they do justice in describing the compassionate, moderate and patient person who was much more than my Thursday night Knit Night friend.
A little more than three years ago we were members of Ravelry, totally unaware of each other's presence, but both knitting on the same mystery sock in one of the groups. It was a quirky pattern, and Susan was having doubts. I noted she was from the same town, so offered to meet her at a local bookstore/cafe and we could work it out together. That was the start of our beautiful thing.
Almost every Thursday night since that first January evening, we'd meet for a cuppa', lots of laughs and a bit of knitting. We talked about family, friends, news, tv shows -- and of course knitting and yarn. And we would plan road trips. Susan was the analytical one; I was the who often proffered "It'll be okay", and we'd keep knitting, wondering if we really would run out of yarn on the bind-off! Those three words had us both in stitches (pardon the pun!) one evening when Susan was dangerously close to running out of yarn on the cast-off on a shawl. Forever the optimist, I offered "I'm sure it'll be fine", and we both laughed when Susan (after a trip to the ladies) told me she had seen those very same words written on the bathroom door! (And unfortunately, it wasn't a sign -- again, pardon the pun -- because yes, she did run out of yarn!)
Susan was always willing to go on new adventures -- to North Bay to see the Yarn Harlot; to Stratford to see a play; to Toronto to do a rainy Saturday afternoon tour of yarn stores; to Ancaster so she could introduce me to the sensory experience of the yarns at The Needle Emporium; to Huntsville to support a friend who was hosting a soup bowl event for literacy. Rarely was there a lull in our conversation; more often it was peppered with laughter or little gems of wisdom that would prompt another story. There were times when we were on the same thought -- impromptu ordering of needles or yarn -- or would say the same thing, and laugh at the coincidence.
I am so thankful for all those opportunities, those evenings of laughter, the shared knitting projects, and the encouraging words when we were working on separate things. I am thankful for the people I met thanks to Susan, and can only hope I enriched her life as much as she did mine.
I will miss Susan.
And again, those four words don't begin to describe just how much.
