The Honest Courtesan

Usually, I look forward to my birthday, and October tends to lift my spirits from their summer doldrums.  But this year it has been difficult; October is the start of the rainy season here, and I suppose the quiet and dark are making the house feel especially empty.  My annual tradition of watching horror movies every night in October also feels emptier than usual without my friend here to share them with.  I still remember the first time I saw The Haunting; I’d read about it but never seen it, and I found the VHS tape at Big Lots (this was either ’98 or ’99) so Grace and I watched it together on Halloween night, sitting on this old Danish modern couch I had at the time.  As it got scarier we slowly moved closer together, and in the infamous knocking scene, we both jumped and grabbed each other at the exact same moment Julie Harris & Claire Bloom did onscreen.  It was something we laughed about for years afterward, and even though we rarely sat on the sofa together to watch movies in her later years (because she needed the support of her own chair), she was still a very definite presence in the process, from selection to scheduling to discussion.  As a result, it’s just not the same any more.  It’s a small thing, I know, but it’s a good example of how a close friendship sends roots and tendrils into every part of a human life, ensuring that practically every part of life afterward is a keen reminder of its loss.