I met Ellen in 2009, shortly after my divorce, at a dining Meetup group. I was still tentative, trying to find my footing in a new chapter of life. But Ellen? She stood out immediately—laughing, loud, and utterly at ease with herself. She was everything I wasn’t at the time, and I was drawn to her energy.

You hope—but don't really expect—to find a best friend in middle age. Yet, I found mine.

Ellen walked beside me as I slowly eased back into life. She offered me laughter when I was still learning how to laugh again, encouragement when I doubted myself, and a kind of companionship that never demanded I be anyone other than myself. Ellen brought out the best in me. She had such an easy, contagious laugh. She made the world brighter just by being in it. 

I am devastated that she is gone. I have lost my best friend. The one who made me braver, lighter, more myself. 

But more than anything, I will carry the love, laughter, and loyalty that defined our friendship. I am better for having known Ellen. I always will be.