Monday, October 15, 2012

For My Lovely Friend


[I have more tales from our vacation, but those will wait a day. This is more important.]

While I was away, a wonderful person breathed her last. She was a faithful reader of mine. I was the same, of her.




Moannie, as we all knew her, passed on Monday, October 8th, at age 78. She was last able to write to us, without aid, on August 14th. Since that time, her wonderful daughter, Saz, took over the correspondence. It was from her that we heard of her Mum's death.

Molly Anne Fabre was a writer of some considerable talent. If this is the first you're hearing of her, I urge you to go back into her archives, prior to the onset of her final illness, and read a few of her tales. I especially recommend those concerning her childhood. One that comes readily to mind now is entitled A Christmas Story. If you can read that one without a small bit of moisture coming to your eyes, you are a mean and callow sort. What sets it apart from the sort of melodramatic piffle that others might write is that Moannie kept a sense of humour about the whole thing. She manages to combine a bit of a laugh with a rather sad tale. That's not easy, but she did it.

All of her stuff is worth a look, but please allow me to direct you to one more that particularly tickled me:

The Prune One

It is not easy to laugh at the moment, but I can't help it when reading that story.

She had a rough go over the last few months - cancer will do that to you, I guess - but her spirit never seemed to diminish considerably. Obviously, I am not family. I never actually met the woman in person. I only knew her via our shared stories on blogs and via some e-mail correspondence. However, she never betrayed a lack of spirit in her writings, and showed considerable fight, too. I was proud of her for that. I would like to think I'll be able to do the same someday.

I do truly consider her a friend and I am heartbroken that we shall never meet in this life. I tend to think that, somehow or some way, I'll meet everybody who regularly reads me or whose stuff I regularly read. Not tremendously realistic, I suppose, but I would have loved to have met Moannie and shared a meal. As a Christian, it is my belief that we will, someday, have a chance to do so, but I hate being denied that possible pleasure until my own eternity sets in.

I would say, "God bless you, Moannie", but I have no doubt He is doing so even as I write this, so God bless US.

No. For that matter, forget that "God bless US" stuff, too. He already did that when he gave us you.







27 comments:

Craig said...

May the choirs of angels come to greet you.
May they speed you to paradise.
May the Lord enfold you in his mercy.
May you find eternal life.


Hilary said...

A beautiful tribute to our beautiful Moannie, Jim. She was a one of a kind gem.

Tabor said...

Yes, I also was sad to read Moannie's last posts. I joined her later than you and thank you for going back to remind me that I have missed some of her life. I have now lost 5 bloggers and this is no fun.

Kat said...

What a lovely tribute to Moannie. Thank you for linking to those fabulous posts.

Lora said...

Prayers for her family, thank you for sharing her stories with us.

Saz said...

thank you so much Jim...A beautiful, heartfelt tribute..
I will show to Jp/Dad when I visit shortly..

saz x x

Eddie Bluelights said...

Yes, Jim - a dear friend indeed was/is Moannie - and I too believe we will meet her one day. She was a real lady, a very beautiful one - on the outside and on the inside. God bless her for ever.

Buck said...

What the others said: a beautiful and heart-felt tribute. Thanks for this, Jim.

stephen Hayes said...

I wasn't aware off Moannie but she must have been remarkable to evoke such sympathy.

lime said...

i too was so sad to hear of her passing. she was a dear and special lady. and as you say, she really found a wonderful balance in the way she shared her stories. she was a triumphant overcomer for sure. may she rest in peace after such a valiant fight.

Pearl said...

Oh!

I knew her superficially. What a lovely sense of humor she had...

Hugs to all who knew her,

Pearl

Jimmy said...

Very Nice tribute to her Jim, I did not get a chance to know her and see not that she is one that will be greatly missed.

Jackie said...

What a beautiful tribute to her, Jim.
Our blogging friends are a part of our family....

Sueann said...

What a wonderful tribute. I have4 never had the pleasure of reading her....I can tell she will be missed.
Hugs to you and her family
SueAnn

The Broad said...

You have written beautifully about her, Sully. I had not been reading her for long before she became ill, but was incredibly moved by her continued humour and her ability to be candid at the same time.

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful, Jim. I wasn't a regular reader, but from what I read, agree she was a gifted writer and a leaves an empty space in many lives now. I'm off to read the posts you suggested...

Michelle H. said...

A great tribute to a kind and funny woman.

Daryl said...

Such a loss to her family and friends and to those of us who knew her from her blog writing ... may she rest in peace

(not necessarily your) Uncle Skip said...

Great tribute, Jim.

Karen said...

A lovely tribute to your friend.

Babs said...

Well, I am sorry to say I never read her posts, until now. What a gifted writer she was.
She left, I would assume a treasure trove of words and full sentences.

Thanks for sharing,even at this hour and I am so sorry for her families loss of course.

Mich said...

I wasn't a regular reader of Moannie, but I happened to check her blog the other day, and it was such sad news.
Beautiful post. <3

Jenny Woolf said...

I am sorry to hear of her death. I liked her blog, and your wonderful tribute makes me want to go back and re read some of my favourite posts.

A Woman Of No Importance said...

Beautiful, Suldog Sir! A lovely tribute to a wild and generous soul who wrote from the heart about her deeply troubled upbringing.

She will be missed with tears and laughter...

Thankyou,

Fhi x

Maggie May said...

Lovely tribute to a wonderful person who I *knew* through her blog.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Jeni said...

Thank you Jim, for such lovely words about a truly beautiful lady. She had quite a presence about her when she wrote, told stories of her life and such and I will miss not having her bits and pieces of humor and wisdom still coming through. Peace.

Matt Conlon said...

Lovely tribute. I hate when people die... absolutely the worst part of life.