Mourning becomes connected

PALO ALTO - My close friend Kris Olson died last week. It wasn't after a long illness, or even after a car crash. She just went to bed at home one night, and was dead when her son tried to wake her in the morning. No drama, no long goodbyes, just...nothing.

I heard about it two days later from my brother, by e-mail, who heard from a friend of his. Then I got a couple of e-mails from other friends, forwarding messages from people I didn't even know, with a few cc's to some familiar names. I called a friend and got a few sparse details: Kris's husband was away, but had hurried back. And no, there was absolutely no warning. No signs. No health issues, except that a few years back she broke her arm catching a football.

Until I had these conversations, I didn't really believe that Kris had died. And then there were those confirming e-mails. I had seen her just last month: alive and vivid as usual. We went to her hairdresser, where she chatted while I had my hair cut. We went shopping at the Stanford shopping centre, and had soup for lunch, sitting outside in unusually chilly weather because the eateries were crowded.

Editor's Comment
Congratulations Anicia Gaothuse!

The contest had 10 beautiful young girls as finalists and unfortunately only one could wear the crown.The judges picked Anicia Gaothuse. To all those who feel their contestant should have won ahead of Anicia for whatever reason, hardly; the judges found Anicia to be the best among the best, so desist from disrespecting our newly crowned queen on social media or anywhere else, for that matter! Each of the 10 beautiful young women had supporters...

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