She was a faithful reader of this blog, and even made several comments. She wasn't always a part of my life, but one of my earliest memories is of her family moving into the house across the street from us in Scotia, New York. She and my mother became good neighbors and even better friends. Her daughter and I walked to school together, and played together every day until we moved apart—but we kept in touch and are close friends to this day. Ruth welcomed me into their house at all times, even when her children had the mumps and I was trying to catch the disease myself. (It didn't work.)
Although I kept up my friendship with her daughter, Ruth and I lost contact—that's what often happened with different generations in the pre-Internet days. But thanks to e-mail, my blog, and Facebook, we reconnected in recent years, and what a blessing that was. She even came to visit us at the Maggie P. one year! Because my own mother died when I was in my early 20's, by the time I wanted to hear stories of my childhood, I couldn't ask her. Ruth filled some of that gap for me, and I'll always be grateful for what she shared before the years took their toll and made communication difficult. She's free now, and I certainly don't begrudge her the new life, but I miss her, and wish we'd reconnected sooner!
