On Monday night I got phone call from my friend Julie. She was on her way to the hospital to see our friend Jamie. He was in ICU and not doing very well. He had just been taken in to hospital that day. When I talked to them later that night, I knew it wouldn't be long. Mel and Julie had been visiting with Jamie's dad. He said "what's that girls name from Canada?" Karen they said "Yeah, Canada Karen, he talked about her all the time." Tuesday morning when Julie called me she didn't even have to say anything. We just cried.I worked with Jamie at UK hospital (University of Kentucky). Our group of friends from night shift were very close. We could turn to each other for anything. When my grandfather passed away, I called Jamie, he worked all of my shifts for me and offered to take care of my dog while I was gone. When he and his wife were getting divorced, I made spaghetti and brought it to work for him. I can still hear him saying "MMMM, Canada Karen is bringing me Spaghetti!". The night was not complete without at least one laughing session, Jamie bent over his hands on his knees, spitting mountain dew, his face all red and wiping tears from his eyes.
I spoke with my friends last night, they were at the visitation. Jamie was from a little town called Prestonsburg about 3 hours from Lexington. We had never met his parents before, but they knew all of us. They walked up to each person who was there and said "Oh you must be Candace. Jamie always talked about how he loved feeling your baby kick when you were pregnant" "Oh you must be Jessica. He called you his little sister." I had sent flowers, Red and White, they said they knew who they were from before they even read the card. It's nice to know that we meant enough to Jamie that he would talk about us so much to his family.
Today is the funeral, and I so wish I could be there with my friends. I will miss you Jamie!
