By Maryanna Gabriel
Small town living, charming as it can be, has it's down sides and we travel for different reasons. A lovely woman here lost her husband to
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| I Imagine Her By The Sea Somewhere |
cancer a ways back. They were soul mates, the kind that look like each other, and his loss was keenly felt by her. At one point I drove by her shop - I had the strongest feeling she was leaving soon. I went in. "You're still here," I said. "I just want to go somewhere and have a glass of wine on the patio of a cafe where nobody knows me." she said. I understood immediately. I got that being in a new place was a way to discard the heavy mantle of grief, which even if she was ready to shed it, well meaning but overly sympathetic friends were never letting her forget. "You could do day trips," I said trying to be encouraging. I could tell by her quietude that a more dramatic departure was the alleviation sought. Months later I saw the ad in the paper and I knew she was selling up and going. She hasn't been seen or heard from since. I miss her. I imagine her by the sea somewhere, anonymously sipping slowly, breathing deeply and relaxing.
