When I was in college in Texas I roomed with my best friend, Jenny, from high school.   We had a great time and she would always make me food.    I remember telling her to eat with me and she never would.

Finally, one day I realized that Jenny was getting real thin.    I talked to her dad and that weekend he came up and got her.   Neither he nor I realized how bad she had gotten and how sick she was.

That weekend she was admitted to the hospital for liver failure and weighed 75 pounds.

I couldn’t believe how I could have lived with her and just not noticed.   I wish I would have known about New York eating disorders warning signs. 

After the episode Jenny didn’t reach out to her old friends.   I assumed she was embarassed and maybe there was a part of her past that she didn’t want to reconnect with.

Just a few years ago I was talking with a mutual friend.   I asked how Jenny Parker was doing and he told me that Jenny passed away.

She was able to go back to school after the hospitalization our junior year, however, when she graduated she obtained a job and relapsed.  

Avalon Centers in Williamsville, New York offer services for people with eating disorders.    I wish they would have been able to help my friend, Jenny.