The Last Time I Saw Her

Today marks a year since I last saw Adri. She needed to get her car inspected and she still wasn’t comfortable driving, so she asked if I wanted to come over and spend time with the boys while she and Stephen got the car inspected. Of course I jumped at the opportunity.

The boys and I went to the rec center and shot hoops and lifted weights for a couple of hours. When I checked in with Adri for a status update, she said that they were almost done, that it passed (not always a given,) and that they were on their way home.

When she originally called that morning she also sheepishly asked if she could have another little “advance” of $130 of her school money, since they needed a new battery for her car and were tapped out for the rest of the month.

She had asked for a little money in February as well, and when she did then it disappointed and frustrated me, and I let her know it. Harangued her a bit. Told her that they both were adults and needed to get their act together. Basically, just tossed the money on the counter when I left without even saying good bye.

This time I didn’t say anything about the money request, because I felt bad about being so hard on her the last time. Life is too short I literally thought to myself, just let it go.

When they got back from the car errand and the boys and I returned from the rec center Adri and I sat and talked a bit. We talked politics, lamenting a certain leader and policy decisions being made. “I can’t wait for this to be over,” she said, and I agreed.

I got up to leave and handed her the money with no judgement this time. She whispered “thank you” without looking at it. We said our goodbyes and hugged. I can’t remember if I said “I love you.”

When I got home, I saw that she’d texted me a longer thank you to which I replied “I love you.” This ended up being the last thing she ever heard from me, our last communication.

She died less than 40 hours later.

I’m so thankful for that last hug, and so thankful that I wasn’t a jerk about the money that last time, and grateful that the last thing I said to her was “I love you.” 

Life is too short, but I didn’t realize just how short it really was.