Starfish story

I had A Power of the Heart experience early on New Year's Eve that I'd like to share.
A very close friend of mine who I knew and worked with for 14 years had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and had been readmitted to the hospital because she had been feeling very weak. I assumed it was from the chemo and wasn't worried because the doctor said her cancer was very treatable. 
New Year's Eve afternoon I was in my bathroom standing before my mirror combing my hair. You should know that my bathroom is long and narrow. The mirror is at one end with a window at the far end where I keep a starfish I bought years ago leaning against the glass.
Suddenly the starfish fell off the sill to the floor landing on the rug. Now the window is screwed shut for security as it faces a fire-escape. So no breeze. No earthquake. And because Patty loved sea shells and collected them I laughed and said out out loud, "What are you trying to tell me Patty?" I noted the time just in case she would tell me later she had been thinking of me.She had told me she would call me on the weekend but hadn't so far.

Well, it was 4:30 in the afternoon. She had died at 4:30 in the morning that day, New Years Eve. Ok, Patty liked shells and collected them. I knew that but thought well this was not a shell but a starfish. One time she had given me a bag of shells she brought back from Tobago, but I didn't have a way to display them so put them away. 

The next day, Sunday, I learned she had passed away. On Monday I went in to work and told my story to my coworkers. And ended with "Well, she liked shells, not starfish, but I guess it was the closest to a shell she could find in my apartment."

One of the workers said, "Look at her lamp." You know how you're around things so much you don't see them? Her lamp had a broad base and arranged on it were about 6 shells, and one 3 inch starfish.
Miss her.