To My Friend Charlotte

My friend Charlotte died this morning and on this Thanksgiving day I am thankful that she was part of my life. Charlotte was my best friend Judi's mom, and my idol.
I met them 47 years ago when Judi and I became fast friends. We were inseparable and I spent almost as much time at their house as I did at my own.
Back then Charlotte wore platinum blonde curls piled high on her head (early 60s, remember). She always had music playing in their house, often listening to LP soundtracks from the latest Broadway musicals and she introduced me to a new young singer named Barbra Streisand.
In the 70s she wore a shag cut and hot pants and elegant clothes and drove a Jaguar XKE. She was young and chic and sophisticated and so hip to the times.
She and her husband Nortie went out for elegant dinners and to cocktail parties and to the theatre; they had pool parties in their backyard and served martinis to all their beautiful friends. Charlotte smoked Benson and Hedges 100s (or was it Virginia Slims?).
She was so different from my mom. My mom was, well...a mom. She wore housedresses and aprons, cooked (dry) pot roast and canned peas. I never saw her in an evening gown. She didn't talk to me as tho I were a person, I was just her daughter. But Charlotte was cool. She talked to me like a friend, and introduced me to new foods, new people, culture...the world. I wanted to be just like her.
She was too young to die, not even 80. Her loss leaves a big hole in my heart.