*snif*

Well, Earline from the bookstore died last night. She was a really cool old lady, well-read with an acerbic wit and a great attitude toward life. She hadn't worked at the store in a good while, and even when she did she didn't work too much, as she was retired and did it more for fun and to be around some of her friends than for money - while the place was already a little bit empty without her, it's a lot emptier now that we know she won't ever be there again. She had cancer, you see, and it spread from here to there and then to everywhere. She fought it tooth and nail, because she was a scrapper and that's one thing that never changed, but you know how it is with that damn dirty-fighting cancer. So it wasn't really much of a surprise in the end, although it's not like that makes it better somehow. We're hoping the owner will close the store for a couple of hours Thursday afternoon so we can all go to the funeral, because there's not a one of us who doesn't want to say goodbye.

Rest in peace, darlin'. We'll miss ya.