A really special friend in my world passed away this last Sunday. Pancreatic cancer snuck up on her like a thief in the night, and just like that, three weeks later, she was gone.

She was the first person I encountered upon moving to Colorado, a neighbor just a few doors down. We met upon the street in front of our new place, a welcoming smile and introduction, and before I knew it, we were talking about all sorts of woo woo stuff.

Total strangers one second. Building a connection, the next. She was a long, lost sister found.

It was so effortless. So magical. She taught me so many things, believed in me, opened my eyes to another way of thinking. Of being. Of loving. And because of it, my world changed. Even my art took on a whole other expression.

I love you. She would tell me at every gathering. It would roll off the tongue so easily. And she meant it. And I felt it.

I can’t even begin to express the impact she had on my life these last 6+ years. I see aspects and impressions of her all over my home as she so generously gave and gave of herself at every turn.

We’re so funny about death in this country. It’s taboo. You don’t talk about it. It’s a conversation that gets turned away at dinner. We don’t even say someone died. It’s like it’s a dirty word. Instead, we say they passed.

Perhaps it’s because death has such a finality to it in meaning – the total cessation of life. As simple as turning off a light switch.

But does it really?

John Lennon once said, “I'm not afraid of dying. I'm prepared for death because I don't believe in it. I think it's just getting out of one car and getting into another.”

Like many others, I do believe our body is a vessel, housing the very essence of who we are. It is pure energy that cannot be destroyed. It merely transcends. So as this body fades, we merely find ourselves in a state of becoming…or perhaps a state of returning… to our natural form.

So, my beautiful friend, while I cannot see you in front of me, I know you’re not far. Your laughter echoes in my ears. I find traces of you in my thoughts, as I pick up my camera, as I gaze into the sky.

I await the day I can be with you again.

I love you. I love you. I love you.