Grief.

My friend who was ill with a brain tumour has died.

One of my closest and most loved friends drove an hour and a half from her town to mine, to give me the news in person. We went for lunch and spoke of our friend, grateful that at the end, she hadn't suffered, she just slipped quietly from coma into death.

The illness and death of people I love is one of "the things I cannot change" and either I find a way to acceptance, or I will be fighting against the natural progression of life, and that would be tilting at the most immense of windmills.

I wrote to a friend last night, and received the comfort I was seeking, and for that, I'm grateful - we cannot erase the pain life sends us, not for ourselves, and not for each other, but we can walk quietly beside each other when the path is most challenging, offering an arm when our friend stumbles, and being a comforting companion though the vicissitudes of our lives.