tvordlj | My friend, Carole

I met Carole 11 years ago at a pub get together that was to introduce members of our work department to each other, because the cities of Halifax, Dartmouth, town of Bedford and County of Halifax were amalgamating so our department would now consist of people from the IT sections of all those organizations. She spilled a beer all over the table and me! We became instant friends :) Over the years, we've taken a couple of trips together, a tour around Ireland and Dublin, including a great get together of Corrie friends in Dublin. We also had a month long holiday in the UK in September/October 2000 where we attended an international week long get together of internet Corrie fans in Manchester, bought many things in the potteries of Stoke, walked miles (often in the rain) in London, and took a tour around Scotland. We were movie buddies and we liked the same books. She was a dedicated gardener and loved plants and flowers. She always wanted to go to the Chelsea Flower show in London but never made it there. She always read before bed. She loved art by Monet, J. W. Waterhouse and loved the art deco style and prints of Charles Rennie MacIntosh. She loved "Celtic" style jewelry and designs. She was very interested in geneology and did a lot of work researching her family history.

She loved big dogs and had owned several over the years, a doberman and a couple of bull mastiffs too all at different times. She loved china and pretty glass dishes. She liked Coronation Street and she was a fan of Ballykissangel and was thrilled when one of our tour stops in Ireland was Avoca. There's a photo behind the cut of her in front of the pub, Fitzgerald's. We always got doubles of our travel photos and shared them. You can usually tell my pictures from hers. Mine were architecture and hers were flowers. She thought Clive Owen was hot and we'd go see his movies even if they were shite! She was very handy with DIY stuff, had her own set of drills and tools and she helped put my computer desk together. We had a desk building party here that year, she and i did the desk, two other coworkers dismantled the old desk and one of them, a project manager, supervised and then we all chowed down on Chinese takeaway. A job well done!

A few years ago, she became ill. she had to go on long term disability but the doctors couldn't make a diagnosis for a very long time. In the end, they determined it was Shogrin's syndrome but by the time they uncovered it, she had a lot of kidney damage. Her body wouldn't absorb crucial minerals like potassium and calcium. She lost a great deal of weight and was tired most of the time. She had to rest up a few days before going out and a few days after but she liked to go anyway. She wasn't in pain but she suffered. She was a few years older than me, i think about 53 to my 48 and said once that she knew she wouldn't see 60. She was right. I think she knew more than she let on to people, too. She made funeral and burial arrangements a few months ago but i thought that was just part of the planning for the eventuality.

Apparently she went away with one of her sisters for a few days this week and was quite tired when she returned. That wasn't out of the ordinary. She laid down in the recliner for a rest last evening. When her husband came home last night, she was unresponsive and the EMTs said she had gone in her sleep. I'm glad of that at least. I'm glad she didn't have to suffer through dialysis on top of everything else. It's still quite a shock though, nobody really expected it quite this soon. I spoke to her on the phone not that long ago, a few weeks maybe and i'm really glad i did now. I hadn't talked to her for a couple of months before that. I could tell she hadn't been too good because her voice was weak. I said i had some books that she could look through and when she had finished the ones she said she had just got, to give me a call and we'd get together.

She didn't want a funeral so this is how i must say goodbye. Monday at work is going to be hard, everyone will be gutted. I"m glad she's at peace.

A few photos of and for Carole.

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My friend, Carole

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