My friend Erin's mom died suddenly on Sunday morning. Erin and I are the same age, and her mom was only 58. The memorial service was today. It was unique, personal, and beautiful. Several people spoke, people who knew Linda (Erin's mom) from all times and walks of her life - a childhood friend, a teacher friend, a boating buddy, and others. I had met Erin's mom at least once, but I didn't really know her. However, I'm certain I would have liked her very much. Her daughter, my friend, turned out pretty well, so she must have been a great mom.
On Sunday morning my friends and I became grown ups dealing with grown-up things like losing parents. One other friend confessed she didn't know what to say. Lord knows I didn't either. If you know me, you know I have no emotional control when it comes to tears, and I'm going to cry and cry and cry and there's nothing I can do about it. When it came to what to say, my friend Tiffany was way better than I because she could speak. I was just a blubbering mess. Thank God for text messages. They're comprehensible even when the sender is a total wreck.
Today we drove down for the memorial, and we saw Erin handle every moment with such grace that I am still in awe. We just stood around and took instructions. It's weird to be a grown-up when you don't know what to do. Please say a special prayer for this family as they deal with this devestating loss.
Now on to the terrible old lady part. Our other friend April went with us to the service even though she had a beast of a cold. During the service, April started coughing and couldn't stop. Now, this was not one of those loud, hacky coughs. She was trying not to make any noise so she just kind of sucked air for a minute or two. I felt bad for her, but I was quite impressed with her self-control. As she gasped, relief came flying at her from all around us. Lozenge-like medication was pelted at her from every old lady within two rows.
Neither Tiffany nor I had any throat relief at all. I'm afraid we shall be terrible old ladies.
2 comments:
What a great post, Stormy. I knew you would write something about mom's service, and I couldn't wait to read it. It made me smile. Thank you!
I think we will all be great old ladies when get there. Being a prepared mom turns into being a prepared grandma; throat relief and all! Love you!
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