Susan
My long time friend, passed away Friday – if she were here, we would likely quip that “another one bites the dust” Susan and I were the dynamic duo who felt that we could do anything we wanted to. If others said it was impossible, Susan and I would sit down and work out how we could get it done. I had two friends called Susan, she was known in our circle as “little Susan” cuz that is what she was, 5’2″ if that.
Being a Taoist, for me landscaping was all about bringing nature to my property so that it would as closely resemble natural growth, Susan shared that passion, when I bought a home with a double lot, she said, I’m going to get more land too. She moved to a place where she had the kind of lot that she could build on. We were off to the races, every week-end we toured miles of countryside looking for landscaping places that would offer us plants that were not the standard backyard fare.

Susan’s passion soon outgrew her backyard, she called me one day to tell me she had decided to purchase land. We both had full-time careers in Corporate Health Care, and were raising our “young” but that didn’t stop her. Once her mind was made up, Susan was a very determined person. Over the years I watched as she took on one “project” or “passion” after another.
When I remarried in the late 90’s, we didn’t get to spend the time together that we did before, but anytime we did meet up, we picked up just where we left off. That was the kind of relationship we had. The bond we had created when we were younger, held like glue. The years passed, friends in our lives changed, but still, we knew each other like one hand knows the other.
She is gone now, at least the human form is no longer here. But her presence, the secrets we shared, the long evenings of simply “being” in the same space, discovering our “selves”.. that will always be.

Rest in peace my friend, our joy in prisms will always be a reminder of how much you are part of mine.
When love is true it lasts forever, no matter what…
true friendship is not about how often you see each other,
or how long you have known each other..
but in the truth of what you were to each other.
Q
photos along the Tay River, Ontario,Canada