Today was my monthly book discussion group where we discussed a thoroughly unpleasant book with a cowardly & unsympathetic narrator called "The Kite Runner". One of the few good things about it was the vivid setting of recent war torn Afghanistan, a country most people know very little about, and so helped us understand it a little better.

   Before the meeting began, the librarian who leads it told us she had some sad news, which I guessed at before she even began. One of our members, Cathy, had died last week from lung cancer. It was already quite advanced when accidentally discovered a couple months ago. She never smoked, ate sensibly & was active, so I'm not sure what caused it. In any case, she will be greatly missed.

   Though a member for only about 4 years, Cathy added a lot to the group. She was intelligent & outgoing, immediately treating anyone as a friend. She was confident & humorous, full of entertaining stories. She had lived various places & travelled all over, often being reminded of journeys while reading one of our assignments. Whereas I read to experience places I'll never be able to go, she did the opposite; the books bringing a pleasant memory of a long ago trip. She often told us about large family parties & though her husband was a very different sort of person, one who liked repairing clocks, she always spoke of him with respect & affection. A political liberal, she threw a fund raiser for a local candidate last year. I imagine she livened up any gathering she attended. She was truly a person who lived life to the fullest & I admired her for that.

    Cathy seemed to take everyone on their individual merits & appreciated their unique qualities. She once told me I ought to be a stand-up comedian because I made everyone laugh so much during meetings. She often teased me about my liking for Ralph Fiennes. She, herself, lusted after Gregory Peck. She was well read & well travelled and truly looked at life as an adventure. She added so much to the meetings that I'm sure it will always leave a gap. The world is a bit less vibrant with her passing.