Upon receiving that medical diagnosis
Choosing me as someone she needed to call
The friendship we knew even stronger it grew
That memory one of the most cherished of all
Communicating .angst of the moment
A recorded message her method of choice
“I’ve just discovered my illness is terminal”
Softly sobbing – trembling of voice
Years of anguish I’ve languished
Pained memories constant the curse
Sensing transgression in not being able to lessen
That aching of a friend at its worse
Be that as my curse there’s nothing more troubling
Than the loss of a long-time friend
There’s a constant reminder always I find her
It’s that portrait I’m cradling within
The friendship we knew even greater it grew
Her death one of the most challenging of all
Once she’d received that painful diagnosis
Then choosing me as someone she needed to call
Author’s note:
Dedicated to Mary Azevedo,13 March 1947 – 2 June 2005; long-time Administrative Assistant to Robert Mondavi.
There were three dedicated cell phone connections, through which I might have been readily contacted. Yet she chose, for whatever reason, to leave the voicemail message, instead.
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