I have not been able to write for several months due to my friend's illness and passing. This blog will be different because I have been different since her passing. Words fail me to explain what a wonderful generous person Ilse had been. Using the past tense for her still shocks me.
I met Ilse after 9/11 when we both worked for the American Red Cross assisting the families and survivors of that horrible attack. I think you generally don't know who you will stay in contact with after a job has been completed, you usually move on and lose touch with the friends you have made. However, I knew Ilse and I would stay friends long after our work was done at ARC. Ilse was someone I loved being with because she loved and enjoyed life no matter what craziness was going on. She would always want to try new things and go to new places. She loved an adventure and to her everything was just that- a new experience waiting to be lived and tasted. Her favorite adventure always had to do with food which involved us following our noses to a yummy bakery for tea and a new desert to try.
Ilse was my maid of honor, our birthdays were a couple of days apart so we celebrated them together for several years, she was there calling and texing every day when my mom passed away, she was one of the first to come to the hospital when my son was born, and so many other things. It's no wonder that she died on the same day my brother died 28 years ago. Ilse was as close as a sister and I am forever changed and profoundly grateful for knowing her.
