A Tribute

The heat in my building went out yesterday while I was at school. I arrived home to a chilly apartment, no hot water, and a cold radiator. Some of the apartments in my building lost electricity; mine was on and for that I am very grateful. I layered before bed and felt the cold on my face as I laid there wishing for heat and sleep.

This morning I awoke an hour before my alarm, too warm in my many layers and thinking gleefully that my heat and hot water had been restored. They had not, I'm just great at layering and have a top-notch down comforter. I laid in bed wondering how long this would last, where I'd shower tomorrow if my hot water wasn't restored by then, would ConEdison give me a sweet discount on my power bill next month? I fretted for awhile, tried to sleep, alternating between being too warm and too cold.

When my alarm sounded at 8, I got out of bed and turned on the left side of my bathroom faucet. The water ran rusty for half a minute and as soon as it ran clear I put my hand under it. It was warm.

My heat and hot water (and the power to those apartments in my building that were without it) was restored by 8 am this morning. It's still chilly in my apartment though; I've been wearing a double layer of wool socks since I returned home from school. I wonder when my little living quarters will come back up to temperature....

This afternoon my best friend Jamey texted me to let me know a girl we'd both been friends with in high school died on Sunday. I hadn't seen or spoken to this girl in probably a decade. We'd fallen out of touch when she had her first son at the age of seventeen.

The break in our friendship was nobody's fault. She left behind a lot of us when she had her baby. It made sense; she was a mom now and had responsibilities none of us could grasp yet. I saw her twice that I can recall after she got pregnant: once at her baby shower, where she was wearing overalls, and once a few months after the baby was born. I don't remember where or what she was wearing, just the baby and that she looked tired. 

If I were in Utah I'd go to her funeral this week, not because her family or sons know or remember me, but to pay my respect to my lost former friend. Lost many years ago after a brief friendship that started in a high school grief group.

I'm sitting on my very warm radiator cover while I type this. It's the warmest now that it's been all day. My eyes are tired, and I need to go to sleep, but first I wanted to sit on my warm radiator and pay what little tribute I could to a girl I knew a lifetime ago. I wish you well my friend. I hope the reunion with your parents was glorious.

Love, Sarah