Anyhow, last year she was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, moved back to the Gambia (in all honesty she was "let go", but I don't think she minded) and died in April.
This might sound callous, but I'm not altogether surprised. Cancer of the oesophagus is bad in itself, and it's near a bunch of veins and arteries that are significant, so I imagine secondary cancers are possible. I spoke to my family (a bunch of whom are medical doctors), and after I described certain things, the general consensus was "She's f***ed."
What does irritate me was a response I got from a colleague Chris and I worked with. Now this colleague texts me a lot. I've had texts from her telling me everything from how nice a cinema she went to was, to asking me things I had no idea of the answer to (like asking why the last person out of the office didn't turn the lights off). I tend not to reply to those sort of texts, because, let's face it, what can I say? Don't just say the first thing that comes into your head. We really don't need a running commentary on everything, I believe. In short, say something when you can usefully add to a conversation, otherwise, shut the f*** up.
Anyhow, I was getting my haircut this evening, and left my phone at home. A few minutes after I got home, my phone beeped saying I'd been texted. I looked and found I'd got 2 texts from this teacher. I checked the most recently received first, and it told me in effect that "all men are bastards, real men would respond when they got bad news."
Checking the first text, I found out she was telling me Chris was dead.
I'm irritated because my colleague clearly sees me as a heartless bastard, who doesn't give a f*** (and not someone who might be tied up at the moment she texted). Trust me, I know I can seem a bit direct sometimes, but even I can see that a death requires a comment.