To a late friend....

DEAR MARTHA,

Our friendship spanned 40 years
Your smile in greeting… warm like sunbeams
Evidence of joyful heart
Showed how much others meant to you

Earned degrees and became a CPA in Cuba
Dreamed of emigrating to USA
Learned English from American magazines and literature
Emigrated in your 20s alone in 1963
Followed by your parents
Had exemplary work ethic
Managed tedious trips for business to Ivory Coast

Performed role as a single parent to daughter Elizabeth
Loved being ABBA to two dear grandkids
Friend extraordinaire to countless
Never forgot relatives remaining in Cuba
sent necessities there

Welcomed relatives with hospitality until they secured job and flat
Conscious effort to visit older friends and relatives
Sacrificed relocating your parents back to Miami community
Never put yourself first
You listened and loved with your whole heart

Surely the Good Lord opened Heaven’s gates
To welcome you in October 2022.
With joy I called you my friend!
Martha Llovet Hughes

With admiration and love, Lynn Doll