* OUR DEAR FRIEND, CLAUDiA...AKA BOOKiE *

This is kind of a long blog post, but please don't glance at it and think you don't have the time to read it.

Many of my readers have certainly come across a dear friend's blog, Claudia's Page: http://claudiapage-bookie.blogspot.com/

Claudia and I "met" through blogging probably in 2010. That was during the height of my blogging life, as it was for many others. We connected easily, having the same passion for writing and reading, tea cups and tea pots, being outside on the deck on beautiful days, plants and flowers... We sent each other snail mail from time to time and also little gifts. Nothing that cost more than a few dollars, but something special we knew the other would enjoy.

Somehow over the years, though, many of us also began writing fewer and fewer posts. I'm certainly guilty of that. For some reason I lost my gusto for it. Maybe finishing my memoir had something to do with it, but I also know the hard times I was going through for quite some time had a lot to do with it, too. I shared some of my troubles with Claudia via emails and she was always so supportive and encouraging.

(Some left blogging for the ease of quick interactions on Facebook...something I still do not care for, but feel compelled to do from time to time. I haven't let it take over my life, though, by any stretch of the imagination.)

I was thrilled in 2010 when she and I both had stories accepted in an anthology, Patchwork Path: Treasure Box. Here's the link to one of my blog posts concerning that: http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2010/12/anthologies-friends-book-store-food.html

Claudia on left. Becky on right.

Claudia and I met in person, quite by accident, during Christmas time in 2014. I was working at Thistle & Clover on Main Street in old St. Charles, Mo. (one of Claudia's favorite areas!) When I got off work that evening, Ron met me for dinner at a great restaurant just down the road. We ate and talked and during our dinner, I saw a woman walk by who I thought looked a bit familiar, but I wasn't sure from where. I hardly remember names, but I almost never forget a face. Maybe she was a store customer, maybe I knew her from writers' meetings, etc. So, when she walked back toward our table, we looked at each other and she said to me, "Is your name Becky?" And I stood up and immediately said, "Claudia! Yes, it's me!" We hugged and talked and Ron sat there looking at us like we were nuts. We recognized each other just from various photos we'd seen of each other...She knew I lived in the general vicinity, but she and her DH (dear husband) had driven from near Joplin, Missouri to be there....which is quite a LONG way. Unfortunately they had to leave to visit some other people, so we only talked for a couple of minutes. Ron took a couple of pictures of us...and can you believe this is the best of the two?? Even though the coloring and focus is bad...Claudia looked so cute, and I looked....well, just awful. LOL

So, why am I writing about Claudia today? I'm writing a post about Claudia today because of her blog post of May 27th that I just came across yesterday. What she wrote hasn't left my mind for one second in these almost 24 hours. Claudia has cancer. And it doesn't sound good. I am stunned. I am in shock. This can't be happening to such a sweet woman.

Here is a portion of her post: "...this week, my world crashed. I got very sick and had to go to the hospital. I am home again but not for long. I have cancer, one of the worst with no hope. Now my time must be spent tending to wrapping up a life. If you are a writer, you know that means among other things hundreds of folders for research, new ideas, and manuscripts! I never knew this office was SO full of paper!"

Whether you know Claudia or not, please visit her blog and read some of her beautiful posts and see the lovely photographs she took during road trips she and DH went on. Leave a comment, or send an email to the address she gave. And maybe become her new follower...I would love to see her finally hit the 100 mark!

If you believe in prayer...please say a ton of them for her. If not, please send well wishes, think healing thoughts, or anything else you would like to do.



"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one." - C.S. Lewis


"A good friend is a connection to life...a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." -- Lois Wyse