…was an old tag line from her blog, ramblins…

The last thought I had yesterday evening and the first one this morning was of blogger friend, Charlane Killough Griffith, from Montgomery, Alabama. Sadly, she passed away unexpectedly on June 6. Apparently, an infection sent her to the emergency room and, possibly brought on by a history of heart trouble, her heart stopped three times, that third being her end. She was only 53. Yesterday I stopped by her Facebook page to wish her a happy birthday, but ended up leaving condolences instead. Oddly, my response to her birthday wish to me just a few months ago was …the weather was beautiful today and I woke up this morning (ha!), so all is good! I wish that she were here to say the same, mocking tone and all.

I met Charlane–or ‘Char’–about a year ago when she commented on a photo of Lucy. She loved photography, cooking, her family, making lists and that iPod. She’d shuffle her songs to see what tunes would start the day, and she’d often list them at the end of her posts. She was an excellent photographer. Her subjects, which were often her family and nature, were always photographed softly and thoughtfully…quiet shots from interesting angles and in natural light. She had a beautiful eye.

In hindsight, I find her last blog post–the one she wrote just five days before she died–heartbreaking. Aside from concern about the path of her blog, she speaks of her job and possible advancement and of finding a new home, hopefully one with a studio. She sounded so excited and hopeful about her future.

I tried to choose a photo for this post that I thought she might like, and after settling on this one instead of one of flowers, which she photographed so often, I read in an online profile that counting rain drops was one of her interests.

Count away, dear Charlane.