Losing a friend

I've known J since both of us were children.  My parents were friends of her parents.  She's seven years older than me (a big gap when we were children, not so much now) but we both have fond memories of childhood.  

We saw little of each other for about thirty years but when we made contact again we were able to pick up the threads and laugh about our memories.  For years we have met for lunch two or three times a year.  Last year I was a little uneasy: something was wrong.

Earlier this year she had the devastating news that she has Alzheimer's disease.  She's having treatment to slow the advance of the disease but it is incurable.  She's aware that her memory is slipping and she realises that sometimes she may behave strangely but she's OK with being "managed".  Her husband was unhappy at the idea of her driving to a meeting point (we live about forty miles apart) so I decided to go to her and take her to a pub near her village.  We've done that three times this year and it is still a thoroughly enjoyable lunch we share.

Yesterday we were chatting about old friends and members of our extended families.  She asked after my sister G and I had to remind her gently that she came to G's funeral fifteen years ago.  It was painful for both of us but after a few moments sadness our conversation carried on.

We arranged to meet again early in the New Year.  I don't want to leave it long.  I know my friend is slipping away and I want us to make the most of each other for as long as we can.