Three special ladies in my life right now

Lately I’ve gotten to know (or re-know) a few terrific women whom I consider good friends.  I just thought I’d write something small here about each of them.

This is my dear friend and former coworker Kimberly.  We met in the late 80’s, when I started my IT career at the Allegheny County Department of Aging. 

Kim was a social worker, but we were only a year apart in age and quickly became friends.  (I had a crush on her at the start but she was married—and pregnant with the first of 3 boys!) 

I wound up leaving Aging in 1997, and for years we only stayed in touch via Christmas cards, but Kim always included a couple photos and a nice letter. 

This past December, Kimba learned she had cancer and we became close again.  (During her treatments I told her she was Kimba for Kimba the White Lion, a cartoon we watched in the 1960s.)  She underwent major surgery & chemotherapy, and just recently been declared cancer free. 

A couple weeks ago, her mother & sister took Kim to Las Vegas (pictured above) just for the adventure of it.  

I don’t pray often, but these past few months I sure have prayed for Kim. 

This is my dear friend and former classmate Diana (on the left).  She’s standing in my sister Shawn’s house and that’s Shawn on the right.

This photo isn’t recent, it’s 10 or so years old.  But I only have 2 pics of Diana.

We went to junior & senior high school together, and never spoke a word to one another.  But as the years went by, Diana reached out to various classmates (myself included) and eventually our emails evolved into some very long phone chats.  Now I don’t know how I went so long without talking to her!

Twice widowed, Diana lives in another state now but keeps herself busy with lots of volunteer & church projects.  She’s a conspiracist, and thinks there are nefarious plots behind everything from government to big pharma to doctors & the nightly news; but she’s so smart & good-hearted, you can’t help but want to listen to her.

She’s a good egg though, and I enjoy the honesty we have.  When I say “Diana, I’m rolling my eyes right now” she just laughs!

This is my ornery friend and neighbor Pearl.  She’s 10 years older than me, and a frequent visitor to the Senior Center I’ve recently joined.  When a group of us went on a tour of the Heinz History Center a couple weeks ago, Pearl & I hung out together.

Pearl loves to laugh and likes to tease just to get a reaction.  The day I signed up at the Senior Center and was introduced to everyone, Pearl said “I don’t believe it!  I tried to get Doug to join a year ago and he said no!”  When someone asked why I declined, she said “Because he peeked in and said we weren’t pretty enough!”

I took this photo of Pearl in front of a Conestoga wagon recently, she said “Do you even know what this is?”  I said “Of course I do!  Does it bring back any memories for you?”

We both laughed, no harm done.  A couple days ago after a hot dog cookout at the center, they began setting up tables for bingo and I said that was my cue to go. 

Pearl asked if I’d stay and chat, and we wound up trading stories for two hours.