"Ask Amy"
“Ask Amy” is a syndicated advice column written by Amy Dickinson. You may be familiar with her delightful memoir, The Mighty Queens of Freeville.
In a recent column, a woman wrote about a friend of hers who had died, and was quite lonely at the end. Long-time friends had abandoned her while she was ill. The woman writing was distressed by the unnecessary loneliness and isolation her friend experienced.
Death is not easy or comfortable or something that our society even finds easy to discuss. We don’t want to talk about it. We want to avoid the topic as long as possible. I suppose it’s why we talk in abstract terms of “if something happens to me…”
If???
Have you avoided a friend who was dying?
Maybe you didn’t know what to say.
Maybe you felt like there was nothing you could do to help.
If so, you underestimated the power of friendship.
"Ask "Amy column - Feb. 22, 2011
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/tribu/askamy/ct-live-0222-amy-20110222,0,7354878.column
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