Tania and I met in the Seymour Middle School. We were both around 12. We went to different grammar schools, so I had never met her before. We became fast friends. She was smart and a good student. What I loved most about her was her spunk and killer dry sense of humor. She " marched to the beat of a different drummer" and I admired that. This would prove true her whole life. We both attended Seymour High School and shared classes like French, English Literature and typing for college bound students. My favorite classes were the ones I shared with Tania. We graduated, Tania was the fifth top student of our class. Both of us went to college, Tania to UNH and I to UB, after college she went to grad school in PA, still we maintained our friendship and I visited her there.. From there our lives kind of parted. She lived in NY and DC and had great jobs in both places. I always told her she had wanderlust. I have 7 different addresses for her in my book. I stayed here, married, had 2 children and worked part time as a RN. She would visit every holiday when she was home, often with Nettie ( with her delicious cookies) or Mrs. Sapko. During one of the visits when she visited alone, my kids were younger and playing outside. We were in the kitchen talking and keeping an eye on them. At the same time they both came into the house crying very loudly. My son had split his lip open and my daughter was stung by a bee. I plunked them both on the counter, gave Ryan a Popsicle, , Heidi an ice pack while mixing up a paste for her bee sting. I kept up my conversation with Tania while administering first aid to the bloody, crying children. I looked at Tania and she was kind of pale. I don't know if it was the blood, the noise level or the fact that she wasn't used to kid chaos. Her reply was " I don't know how you can raise kids and not be a nurse". We always laughed about that. When she moved back to CT around 2000, I was thrilled. We talked more, visited more. She was such a good listener and so kind and caring. I had surgery when my kids were away at college, she offered to help in any way. She cared about other people. She was passionate about animals. We shared so many good times. I will treasure these memories forever. I never thought our friendship would end this way. We always said we would be friends until we were both old and crazy. Life had other plans, though. I am so grateful for our time together, a part of her will always be with me.