Celebration of a Life

Though Friday came & went without any ceremony, I feel I need to mark Chola’s memory somehow. Last year this time the girls from work & I headed to Chola’s hometown to be with her family on the one-year anniversary of her death. This weekend I had hoped that I would be able to go to the cemetery and put flowers on her tombstone but I realized I would never be able to find the grave. So here I am throwing words out into the universe to remember my beautiful colleague and friend. Whenever the work ladies get together, Chola’s name inevitably comes up. She never kept opinions to herself and had a hearty laugh that even the hallways miss. I’ve been trying to find photos of her but have realized that just as she was in life, she was in pictures- always in the background. She was an incredible support, always making things happen behind the scenes. She was deeply committed to her family and her two sons, and to her work. Chola was a wonderful person to have on my side, and I do miss her; not only on the anniversary of her death, but in passing moments that I wish I could have shared with her.

I don’t really know how to wrap this up except to say that Chola was never one to focus on the negative, so I will always celebrate the memory of her life and try to share the goodness that I learned from her.