The title is not original - it's from a poem by Adrienne Rich. As always at this time of year my thoughts turn to the encroaching darkness. Not that it's unpleasant or fearful, but the shorter days do remind me of endings and of limits.
My mind goes back to the time when, as a 17 year old college freshman, I met a woman named Mary Ann Foley. She was my biology professor, about 10 years older than me and I instantly adored her. She was so full of life and fun that the sun shone brighter in her presence. Our long friendship lasted through my college years, my first and current marriages, her leaving the convent and marrying Ray Callebaut, and her death a few years ago. In an odd twist of fate, she was on dialysis for a little while before she died, as I was for 11 years in the 1980's.
Knowing she was ill and that I probably wouldn't see her in person again, I wrote and told her how much she had meant to me. After she died, a close friend told me that she'd appreciated my letter. I've always been glad I wrote it, and sorry for the many times I've let inhibition or busyness or self-consciousness keep me from saying what's in my heart.
Tonight I've decided to write to an old friend I've not seen in many years & let her know how much I love her. Time is short, the light is waning and these things must be said NOW. As a meditation teacher once said, we must live as if our hair is on fire, because our hair is on fire.
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