Mary Webster, but always "Kit" to me

Lynne and Kit, just as she dropped me off at the Denver airport, November 2006. Took this photo with my cell phone.




When Abby said that Emily Webster was on the phone at 11 at night, my heart froze. And Emily told me that her mom had died last night of a massive heart attack. I was wearing my "Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival" tee-shirt last night, because wearing it made me smile. It made me remember the weekend I spent with Kit, the first weekend in November. We laughed the whole weekend. We fiddled around on their computer. I went to church with her while she did her job -- she was coordinator of the religious school for a big Episcopalian church in Colorado Springs. We spent all day Saturday at the film festival. We went and had supper at the restaurant where Emily works. We laughed around the dining room table with Miles about politics. Kit asked Maddy to play the harp for me. I was going to go every year for the film festival. I promised.

I met Kit our freshman year in Forest Quad. I could see right away that she was like a magnet; she drew people to her because she was more fun than anybody else. And when one night I introduced Phil, my freshman boyfriend, to her -- he said, as we left her room "She's overweight." And she was, always, even though she was athletic and ate really well. I said to him, "The second time you talk to her you'll never notice that, because she's the most fun person there is." And later, after Phil and I had broken up, Kit and Phil got together. They laughed more together than any couple I have ever known. And Kit and I agreed, many times, that things had turned out just the way they were meant to be.

But Kit was a lot more than that. She was the kind of friend who would be honest. One time during college, I was really depressed. And when she called, I pretty much whined on the phone about how miserable I was. I was really wallowing. And she said "You are one of my best friends. I love you dearly. But if you don't get some counseling, I don't want to see you again. Now get in there!" And I did get some counseling, and it was really helpful.

I am so glad to have had that really fun weekend with her in November. And I am so sorry that her kids will not have her there for them -- the twins are only 15 and Emily is just 20 or 21. How can it be that Kit, who organized and ran things and had better ideas than anybody else on how to do just about anything -- how can it be that she will not be there?