May 3, 2010

 On Wednesday, April 21 Miss Fretwell aged 73 died.  She had graduated from Farmville High and Stratford College (in Danville) somewhere in the middle of the last century.  She had worked for the State Disability Dept. in Richmond, went to the local Methodist Church, was on the seniors bowling team, the Farmville Lions club and was one of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Well, that's what the paper read anyway.  It also reported that she was survived by a sister and two nieces.  That friends could come view the deceased that very same night and she would be buried the next day.  What it did not say was that she had a stroke, fell into a coma and her sister (who had to travel all the way up from Georgia) pulled the plug.  That her part time gardener, Earl, had been with her when it happened.  And thank God because she lived alone.  She never married and never had any children.  The paper doesn't say whether she ever had a great love or lover.  What kind of girl she may have been, what kind of things she had done as a young woman.  Did she ever want children?  Did she even like them?  Other than bowling, what did she like to do?  The paper never tells these things.
  It also didn't mention that she was always neatly dressed, perfectly coiffed, and very well groomed even when she was working outside.  I only really knew her as a neighbor-even though I lived two blocks down and one block over.  She always stopped to comment on how cute the dogs were or how pretty my hair looked today.  She was the one who told me about the $500 dollar fine that Longwood would impose if they caught the dogs pooping on the field before they ever put the signs up.  She was kind-hearted but would most certainly tell you what she thought.  She did not mince words.  She was very honest and yet there was something about her you just couldn't help but like-or maybe you just felt a little sorry for her.  She could be a bit stubborn and very oppinionated  but if you had to do battle with some unsavory faction such as the electric company or the town offices she was the one to go to.  She was a staunch Republican-a John McCain supporter.  I know this because I got my McCain sign from her-though I'm not really a Republican I did not have the heart to tell her-or the nerve!  You see the papers never really tell you about the person or their relations leaving those of us who bother to read it wondering about the people we don't know.  Or maybe it's just me wondering. 
 So to the memory of Miss Fretwell and all the Miss Fretwells out there Bon Voyage!  I will remember you. 

 Miss Fretwell died Wednesday, April 21, 2010.  Her house went on the market Friday, April 23, 2010.