I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, Wendy. She sounds like she was a wonderful person. People die like they live.
A simple truth. Maybe sometime I'll post the chapter I wrote about my mother's death. She knew she was dying but she was concerned that her best friend Bess wouldn't be by her side. She asked the nurse to call Bess, but Bess was in the shower. Somehow, my mother held on until Bess was out of the shower and heard the phone ring. Bess knew it was coming so she raced to my mother's room and as soon as she reached the bed, my mother weakly reached over to hold Bess's arm, smiled at her and was gone. She died like she lived, thinking of others. It sounds like you friend was much the same.

Troubles with folks spelling your name wrong, Deirdre? You can imagine mine. My favorite was Rasmuffin. Or maybe it was Rafmuffin.
Apparently I told them my last name with a mouth full of crackers.