From The Little Way Of Ruthie Leming, what happened on this night a year ago:

If you had driven past the Starhill Cemetery late one warm spring night, you might have seen strange shadows lingering around a grave in the bottom under the hill. After a year-­‐end meeting at school, Abby Temple, Ashley Harvey, Jennifer Bickham, Tori Percy, and Rae Lynne Thomas came to be with Ruthie on her birthday. They called Mike, who met them there. They opened a bottle of wine, poured four glasses, and drank to the memory of their brown-­‐eyed girl. There, under the live oaks and crape myrtles, where all the dead of Starhill are gathered round, they laughed and told stories, and remembered the good times. Had you been there, you would have seen that even from the grave, Ruthie Leming bestows life on those who are willing to receive it.

On this night in Starhill, a year after the scene I recorded above, Abby, Ashley, Jen, Rae Lynne, and Sarah Fudge met at Ruthie’s grave, opened a bottle of wine, and celebrated Ruthie’s 44th birthday with her spirit. True friendship is eternal

It’s a hard life sometimes, but a good one.