one of the worst parts of aging is the loss of family & friends.
yesterday I learnd that the painter Mary Ann Begland died at the end of the year just over. I met her 55 years ago at Kent State when we were sparkling with the freshness of youth. she & her then husband hung out with me & my then partner. we bonded immediately. she became one of my favorite conversationalists. unfortunately she & spouse left for Lubbock at end of summer of 1968 for a year. before she left I bought her large & colorful painting "Isadora" which I've enjoyd in my 5 past residences. today it's the first thing I see when I wake.
over the years we saw each other when we cd. I watchd her as single mother raise 2 wonderful boys who became solid men. & we continued to talk. I no longer remember when I startd to call her on the morning of her birthday but it became a tradition we both cherishd.
Mary Ann was the dedicatee of my '70s list poem "Blues." she wrote for my 1996 piece "my first movie." I publishd her art in 2 magazines I edited -- Toucan & Dress. she had a piece in one of my best-known publications -- Six Poems / Seven Prints. & then one of my favorite memories. in 1976 r.j.s. publishd the third & last of my verse journals -- Swimming. I askd Mary Ann to do a cover. I presumed she's do something that wd be printd. instead she paintd by hand 190 covers. I am forever touchd by her generosity in doing this.
I have so many memories of our long friendship -- from her unique sloppy joes to discussions of the latest celebrity suicide.
last may when our hour-long birthday phone chat ended we did what in recent years we had begun to do -- we told each other "I love you."
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