When Patrice, my dear friend for 42 years, was diagnosed with metastatic bone cancer, I decided to keep a journal to chronicle the events of her illness with the hope of keeping control of my feelings and emotions as we walked this painful road. I felt this was a story that must be told and I am the only one who can tell it. I would not wish anyone to experience what I have shared in these pages. For anyone who does, I would encourage keeping a diary. Never before a writer, writing during this period became an obsession for me, a therapy, a calling, even a joy, but most of all an expression of the myriad of emotions I felt.