From the Guestbook: Susan's visit with mro and Liz

Sometimes you meet and correspond with someone online and really like them and then you meet them in real life and they're not really the person that you clicked with online.  Susan does NOT fall into this category.  We'd talked online about dogs and other random stuff for years and then Liz and I had the chance to meet up with her when she was visiting Baltimore this February for a
conference.

  I told her what car we'd be driving and that she'd recognize it when she saw it.  When we pulled up to the hotel, she saw the car, stood up, and gave us this 100-watt smile.  We went out to Fells Point and wandered around some of the stores, including a pet store where she got a couple of dog jackets for her boxers.

Since she was on an expense account for meals, she wanted to go to a posh restaurant, but we checked out some menus and ended up going to this nice and comfortable place (not posh) that had
seafood.

Susan ordered oysters and talked me into trying a couple.  She really knew her oysters.  I've never delved into oysters before, preferring the known quantity of non-mollusk foods, but I think
I might venture into that arena in the future in honor of her.

She talked about all the various varieties of oysters with incredible knowledge.  I had no idea that some varieties were sweeter than others, that some were saltier, etc.

We had a great evening -- one of those that you don't want to actually end, but finally we had to take her back to her hotel.  A few months after that, I saw some tapes of Prime Suspect, remembered that her viewing options were limited, and got them, meaning to send them to her.  Those tapes are still sitting on a shelf here.  And I regret every second that I didn't send them to her -- not because it would have made a difference in her final choice, but because it might have made a difference to her quality of life.  It's just another reminder that we need to be more active about doing the things that we mean to do.

In May, Susan, ever the dog lover, offered  to sponsor us for a walk to benefit the local humane society, but her life got in the way so I sent her an email telling her not to worry and that if she'd not
sent the check to not to send it.  She replied to me on July 1st, asking if she could still send a donation for our efforts.  I started a new job in June and totally missed her email until this past Monday night.  I sent her a message telling her not to worry about it -- that I'd hit her up next year. 

The next day I heard the news. 

Dogspeed Susan. I hope that you are now in a better place where you aren't in pain and boxers romp in the sun with you.  I wish that I had truly known how much pain you were in in case there was some small chance that I could have helped with any of it.  I'm a better person for having
known you. 

And I thank you for that.

mro