My best friend from childhood died today. I am beyond sad. We had known each other since we were little kids, growing up at Cherry Hospital. She and her family lived three houses down from us, in the house closest to the river. Because we were limited to playing in the small area between the river and Highway 581, we inevitably became friends. There were three kids in the Hooks family and , eventually, nine Abbott kids. Kathy liked to tell the story of how she saved my brother, Billy, from drowning when he fell into the river above the dam and she pulled him out while my sister, Betty, went running home. I was not in on this adventure as I was too young. I was frequently at the Hooks' house. Kathy was a bit of a bully to me in those years. I can remember being up of the roof of her garage when it came time for me to go home. Kathy climbed down the ladder and then took it away. She didn't want me to go home but I didn't dare piss off my mother. So I did the only thing I could - I jumped off the roof. If we were in her room and I tried to go home, she wouldn't let me leave until I sang "O Holy Night", a difficult song for even those with a talent for singing. I had no such talent and she would stand there laughing until I sang the whole song. When my family moved to a bigger house on the other side of 581, she was bummed. She and I broke into the old house and painted graffiti everywhere - things like Devil's Angels were here and such. I was 10 and she was 11. We got in trouble for that one. One Halloween, we were throwing raw eggs at passing cars. One car slammed to a stop and started backing up. We took off running to her house. The car pulled into the driveway of her house as we hid in her room with all the lights off. That was a close one!
Kathy got me a passing grade in senior English with Mrs. Osbourne. I was in over my head and she would stay up with me before a test and spoon feed the info into my hollow head. We promised to be in each other's wedding.
Over the years we were not often in contact. I would see her every several years or so. I was at her house once when she was married to her first husband. This was probably 1974. She came to DC in the late 70's to do some shopping for an event in Goldsboro. She was staying in Georgetown so I met her there and we went out for a good time. When it was late and she was hungry, she went to one of the few restaurants open at 3 AM. She ordered steak tartare. When the waiter brought her food, she looked at it in horror and said, "I can't eat that! That steak is raw." The waiter looked at her and said, "What did you think steak tartare was?"
She and her second husband visited us in VA in July of 1983 or 4. We did the DC tourist thing in 98 degree heat. Her plans for her third (and last) wedding were scuttled by Hurricane Fran in 1996 but she was able to put together another wedding and reception in just 3 weeks time.
I could go on and on about the adventures we shared over the years, alone or with our husbands. We planned as old ladies to get a place at the beach together and take care of each other. We could talk for hours, usually laughing just as much as talking. I don't know who I'll talk to now.
