My afternoon wild goose chase had lots of stress. Two grocery stores and one 7 Eleven down in my search. And they were out. Damn It. No-one had a regular iconic bottle of Heinz ketchup.   Nope…Sugar Free… Low Sodium or the Fancy Balsamic Recipe wouldn’t do.

I couldn’t believe what I was doing. But I had to. It’ll make her laugh… I kept thinking. How do you make someone in the last breaths of life …to actually laugh? FINALLY …I found one bottle of Heinz. It was the huge plastic picnic one. But it would do.

Heading up to the eighth floor at Cedars with this ridiculous big bottle of ketchup, I panicked …thinking “what if she doesn’t laugh? What if no-one gets it? What if I ruin a very emotional time for them?” I had heard she was in and out of consciousness and talking a little so I took my chances.

Her son immediately blocked the doorway from this weird ketchup clutching assailant. I thumbnailed to him the story behind it …he giggled…and said “please go talk to her!”

I went in. There was a peaceful quiet in the room that I was about to interrupt with a funny story.

“Is this some sort of a joke?”, asked Elliott, her husband with kind of a half smile as he realized this might be OK…and not some nutcase from the mental ward. “Is she conscious?” I asked. “Yes.” “OK, you gotta trust me on this Elliott,” perhaps cockily.

And then I jumped off the high diving board.  Standing right in front of the face of Bonnie Tiegel, a friend near death from cancer.

I walked toward her and I was struck by how pretty and little she looked. I almost couldn’t speak but rather start balling. I saw her eyes widen staring at me. Which was my cue. Go!

“Bonnie…with apologies to Elliott, do you remember when we fell in love? We fell in love over a ketchup bottle…remember?  (I’m now holding my prop, the big bottle of ketchup in front of her face) And she began to laugh and then say “oh my God…oh my God” over and over to a chorus of exhale and relief in the room.

I then rather loudly told the story about how she and I ten or 15 years ago were at a fancy pants thousand dollar dinner with the big shots of “Entertainment Tonight” where she worked. It was at a fancy pants steak house called Peter Lugars. I had ketchup shame….I didn’t want to ask for ketchup since it was a fancy pants steak sauce kind of place. Bonnie too had ketchup shame which she boldly turned into Ketchup Pride and ordered a big bottle of Heinz….just for the two of us. The hell with the Worcestershire snobbery. We laughed and laughed …what felt like for days – if not years!!

Bonnie Tiegel was that rare rare mixture of a funny heart and a loving heart. And she passed away yesterday after a nasty and private battle with cancer.

Bonnie and I weren’t very close…but yet we were. Because every time I saw her I was reminded how much I loved her. That doesnt happen with everyone…No offense!

Her hugs were epic life experiences. They became so habitual that from time to time I’d phone someone over at ET and tell them to drop everything and not say a word…but just go hug her and tell her it was from me.

The only time I saw anything but happiness and love was ..just once. We were at Kevin Costner’s house for some tv shoot. It was when I told her how GREAAAAAT she looked, kind of overdoing it, since she was in a heavy wig on a hot day…..and in the fight of her life with the cancer. The cancer she never talked about. “No I DONNNT!!” she said correcting me. I then backtracked that “you always look great anyway” Ugh.

She was someone you could not help but love. Richard Simmons loved her. George Clooney loved her. We all loved her.

In a business with some crazy and not so nice people, she was a gem and a standout to say the least. Bonnie is basically what we all want to be. Happy and in love with everything and everyone. Some of my closest friends worked with her every day. I cannot imagine that void. That palpable pain they are experiencing. The true deep anguish and loss.

We have witnessed something extraordinary with this woman. And I told her myself….as I said goodbye and held her hand: “Bonnie, I used to call you the most beloved woman in Hollywood…but you are more than that…you are the most beloved human being I have ever known.and we all love you so much…” I gave her a couple messages from people unable to get to her….before I dissolved.

We had laughed about ketchup, but a final goodbye is just so final and so hard…that I can’t even type anymore. I can barely breathe.