Eve

Detdicated to Eve Croft May she Rest In Peace It was over forty years ago when I first met her. I had barely left my teens. She was older than me; in fact, she was a friend’s mother. Divorce had left her lonely with three sons to bring up. Life was not easy, not much time to herself. Slowly after meeting her, a friendship between us grew. To make her life sustainable I took her out from time to time. We held hands at the pictures and when we went anywhere. She often worried what people would think of me. I didn’t really care what people thought. Eve was a friend and there was nothing more to be said. For the next couple of years our friendship never wavered. We would hug and smile whenever we did meet. There was never any romance involved, we were just very good friends. I never forget when she had an offer to move in with someone. She was so worried that I would think badly of her. She was almost in tears when she told me his proposition. I put my arm around her shoulder and reassured her it was all right. That our friendship would never diminish regardless what she did. Sadly, her going away was never meant to be. She fell ill with cancer and went to live with her sister who would care for her. It was the last time I was ever to see her. It was a few years later I bumped into her eldest son. When I asked him about his mum he looked at me strangely with tears holding back I his eyes. She died I thought you knew. I said that I didn’t. He said he couldn’t stop as he had a bus to catch, and then he was gone. With head bowed, I turned away and started walking home. Tears leaked from my eyes making small lines across my cheeks. My regret then and will always be that I never had a chance to say a proper goodbye. 1 January 2008