Loss Of A Friend

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I understand that many people are uncomfortable with the subject of death or dying, but I have grown accustomed to it in recent years more than ever before. I had this dear friend who lives in the same building for a few years. She was the kind of person who just sometimes grows on you. I have come to expect her absences from home occasionally due to going in and out of the hospital. Also, to visit her only daughter for a couple of days now and then. She was a new grandma, and really warming up to her new grandson on these visits. I last spoke with her by phone when she called me in the middle of the night last Wednesday. Although being up so late is normal for me, it was far from normal for her. You see, she had several health problems. I often teased her about making so many trips to the doctor just like my mother and sister used to do. Our last conversation ended with her promise to call me the following evening when she got back from an old friend of the family's funeral. Well, I did not hear from her. I just assumed that she was either visiting her daughter and grandson or was back in the hospital again after not hearing from her over the weekend. However, I began to worry by yesterday, and said as much to my daughter when she visited me. She told me that I should call and check up on her. By the time I finally got around to doing so I got no answer. This led me to phone a man in the building who often makes trips to the store for us. When I asked if he had seen her I was shocked when he told me that she had passed away. My mind would not accept what he told me, so I found her daughter's phone number hoping that she would tell me there had been a mistake. I discovered that my friend had in fact been found dead on Sunday morning. It was so unexpected and a total shock to me. One of my daughters had stopped to talk to her on Saturday while on the way up to see me. I hate to think of her dying alone like that, and I miss her so much already. We had been discussing birthday gifts - a week apart - and she would have turned 56 on Wednesday. After giving it some thought I have concluded that we confirmed our friendship on an almost daily basis, and, in that regard, she knew that she was not truly alone. This discussion has been mostly for me, but I want to ask all of you, do you regularly confirm your love for your friends and tell them how much they mean to you?