Monday, May 12, 2025
Heather (Williams) Currie
Heather’s and my relationship was bookended by hugs. We met when she and Craig came to Glen Cove the weekend of Judith and Dave’s wedding. As soon as Craig parked their car in front of our house, she hurried across the slate walkway toward me as I rushed down the front steps. We hugged. Then we said hello.
We liked each other immediately and emailed regularly. We were of an age, so our emails were more like what letters used to be than brief, to the point computer correspondence. Hers were newsy, thoughtful and warm. One topic she focused on with delight was a Yiddish word I had mentioned, machetayneste, which means my daughter’s or son’s mother-in-law. She was thrilled that there was a special word in a “Jewish” language that acknowledged our kinship, so that she and I, too, were now family.
In addition to emailing, we had several lunches together in Philadelphia. We’d meet at the train station, take a cab to a restaurant she’d chosen, eat and yak for a couple of hours, then take a cab back to the station. I think it was the next to last time we met. We started out as usual – meet at the station, cab to a restaurant, eat, yak. After lunch we went to look for a cab. By then she was noticeably impaired. Though she had an Uber app, she couldn’t remember how to use it. Never having dealt with Uber, I couldn’t help, and there was no cab in sight.
So there we were, two little old ladies standing, lost, on the sidewalk, when we spotted a police car at the corner. We hoped the policelady might know more about cabs or Ubers than we did, and approached her. When we told her our dilemma, she just said, “Hop in,” and drove us to the train station. So there we were, the two little old ladies, riding in the back of a police car, feeling like queens. When we got to the station, all three of us got out of the car and hugged.
The next time we ate together Craig picked us up. That’s the last time I saw her.
It’s time for another lunch in Philadelphia….
I miss her.
Barbara Cohen
4/26/25
