IF SOMEONE DOESN'T HAVE LONG LEFT

“It's really not going well. Really not, May.” I asked my friend P. how friend C. is doing. C. is sick. For a while now. Friend P. looks at me for a long time. “Maytje. Really not good. Really. Not.” C. is a dear one in my life. Not a direct friend, but she has a shop where I sometimes end up on Saturday afternoons with a glass of wine, a bent credit card, and the giggles over her stories. And on King's Day, she is the best buddy to sell clothes with.

But now she is sick. I write her a letter in which I tell her how she has colored my life, that I will never forget her, and that I will tell my daughters about her and her colorful life when they are older. The letter arrives just in time. C. spends her last days in the house of another friend. She read the letter aloud and thanked me at the funeral. She had a smile when she listened to the words.

On Friday, another friend called. In the morning, and then something is up. Friends only call in the morning when there is really something. Real mother-in-law irritation. Real trouble at home. Really something with the kids. Or really, really something. It was the last one. Former colleague A. doesn't have long left. A week or two. Max. I can text her (she doesn't use WhatsApp) and her sister will read the messages aloud.

Writing farewell letters. There is nothing more somber, but can I really thank those who point out to me that I Really Need to do something? How often are you not too late and are tormented by ‘if only I had...’-thoughts? So a wise piece of advice from me on this day. If someone says there is something, believe them and thank the messenger.