In the early hours of January 3, 2008, Arliin Caster, my closest friend in Toronto, passed away in her sleep. The autopsy and toxicology reports were inconclusive and gave no indication as to the cause of her death. She was taken far too young, and we will never know why.
On January 6, I was able to claim Arliin’s cats, Xena and Beano, from the animal shelter.
Her friends held a memorial for her at the Argonauts Rowing Club on January 12, nine days later. These chrysanthemums first appeared at her memorial and they’ve been at my house ever since. I don’t profess to have a green thumb and the two plants have been looking scraggly all year. I wondered if they would ever bloom again, but when I returned home mid-December after nearly a month in Vancouver, I was so happy to see flowers (I’m giving the catsitter the credit for that!).
Tonight a bunch of us will raise a glass of Guinness in honour of Arliin. If she were here, she’d probably be snickering at the puckered faces and the fact that I’m the only hardly anyone she knows can stomach her favourite drink.
