Jane died 5 years ago

I've been trying to decide what to say about my friend Jane Yelliott, who died five years ago.  I wrote about her lots of times on this blog, but today I seem to be just browsing through what's already posted.  I also read her blog, ramblings of an artist, which I helped her set up on Wednesday, January 4, 2012. Yes, she gave me credit that day, and her last post on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 was about the death of my beloved Kiki Cat four days earlier.  I left her blog's very first comment, ending with:  "I will add it (her blog) to the sidebar of Bonnie's Books."  The link to her blog is still there, on the right, though it's way down at the bottom and currently says she last posted six years ago.

Jane was an accomplished artist.  She was honored by the city of Chattanooga with a plaque on the Walnut Street Bridge, along with Bessie Smith and other notables.  In this photo, there's a glazed tile showing TC the cat on the wall behind the man, which she later gave to me when she was dying in December 2013.  It isn't the only piece of her artwork I have, but I remember Jane apologized when she gave it to me, apologized that she didn't get MY cat painted as she had promised.  According to Jane's daughter, "TC" stands for "Top Cat."  (Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the cat better.)

From Jane's blog post about TC:

TC did just appear one day when he seemed to be about 3 months old.  Somehow he knew that he would be taken in without question.   What a love he was - and the only kitten I ever knew whose tail touched his head when he walked.

What else can I say?  Jane gave me a stuffed tiger to hug after Kiki died.  That tiger is still on a shelf in my apartment, even though I now have Clawdia Cat, who often sleeps on my bed.

I took care of Jane's cat Babe when she traveled, and Babe shared the toy in this photo with me.  Jane was the friend I was meeting when I tripped and shattered my shoulder.  She donned red and celebrated the Chinese New Year with Donna and me and was among the friends I invited over.  In other words, Jane was a very big part of my life, and I still miss her.  A lot.  Let me end by sharing what Jane wrote about procrastination and having a mental termite:

annotation: March 24, 2012
I just discovered what my problem is. I have a mental termite.!!!
Nell Mohney proclaimed in her column today that procrastination is a mental termite!  If I had bats in my belfry would they take care of that?

Ah, yes!   I really do miss Jane's wonderful sense of humor.