Gail was my best friend since high school, where we met in our 1st year (1971) in a hallway. She caught my eye because Gail, being very outspoken, was cracking some kind of wise remark at a guy friend of mine. When I first saw her, I remember thinking how uniquely beautiful she was with her tanned skin, her thick black hair and big dark eyes. How I wished I was as out spoken, and straight to the point, as she was, as I was a bit shy and quite quiet!! She was special yet she chose me to be her friend and we became loyal friends from that day on. We shared so many memories that they are too many to mention here, but I will share one just so you know the type of person Gail was. A gang of us were standing by one of the entrances of the school, during a recess break, where some were having their cigarettes when someone yelled that Mrs.Schultz (the principal) was coming. All the smokers immediately tossed their cigarettes but for some reason Mrs. Schultz decided that one cigarette butt belonged to me and took me, from the crowd, down to the office. Much to my surprise, as I stood waiting in the office for Mrs.Schulz to call my parents, Gail appears in the office. She went right up to Mrs.Schultz and told her she was wrong and that the cigarette butt belonged to her!! Although it did not help my case, no one else would have taken that risk but Gail did, for me, as she did so many times in my life. For me, Gail has always been an angel, always there for me through thick and thin. Now she is an angel in Heaven watching over all of us... Everyone should have one friend like Gail in their lifetime. I have been so lucky to have had her in mine for 40 years!!
