On July 7th, I called a friend to simply to 'Hi'.

Someone else answered the phone.

[Her husband usually answers the phone when she is tied up...she must be tied up]

"How are you related to her?' This person asked.

[I hear talking in the background...perhaps she's having a family reunion...as she never has a group of friends over at one time]

I state that I'm her friend...

[I feel like I'm interrupting something important...just want to get off the phone]

"My sister died yesterday."

[There's hundreds of people with my friends first name and I happen to call the wrong number...she's never have a bunch of people in her home at once...this is obviously the wrong number...]

I say my friends full name...[my friends' first name is a common one...it has to be the wrong number...]

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I knew she was ill. Not this ill but the possibility was there. The last time I spoke with her was about 2 months ago. 

She said, "I'm doing OK." 

I heard the strength in her voice and the reassurance that she was OK. I may not have talked with her much...but I could tell when she was not feeling well. I would question her more and call more often until I knew she was OK.

We usually do not go 2 months without talking. I was busy. I ignored the urge to call her a couple of times...

[Later...I'll call her later...] 

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Life is a dash between 2 dates...for everyone.

“We don’t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well.”

-Randy Pausch (1960-2008), The Last Lecture at Carnegie Mellon