"Letter to Marsha Sue Ritchie" / by Marsha L. VonderBrink

When I met you I knew we would be friends forever and we were! You meant so much to me you were all the things I admired in a person, you were so sure of yourself and seemed never to have doubts, not about anything. I'm sure you must have but you never showed that to the world. They told me you had never cried except when they first told you that you were terminal, all those many months you stayed strong. How did you do that? You had your whole family surrounding you with love and that must have helped you a lot. You were always there for me and I can't imagine this world without you, so I won't. When the pain becomes overwhelming from losing you, I'm going to think about you being with Jason & Timmy now and your Dad too, what a joyous reunion that must have been! I wish for just a little while we could be young again like we once were and go skipping down Vimont Street, hair long and flying everywhere, hands linked by the little finger, carrying our bright orange pocketbooks, wearing our shiny green shoes, saying, "look out world here we come"! Oh, Marsha I'm gonna miss you girl. I love you forever. Marsha Lynn 12/19/04