After The Memorial Service

Yesterday I attended the memorial service of a friend. Though the focus of such things is, naturally, on the deceased and the family, I am always reminded of life's ephemeral quality.

I once wondered how I would be remembered after--well--you know. I like to think that we are all connected--like in the Hollywood movies. It is hard to keep a dry eye at the end of an It 's A Wonderful Life style movie. I would even love to write such a life-affirming tale. The truth is, I have days when I really doubt that my life has such a ripple effect on others. Have I inadvertently saved a ship load of soldiers or kept Potter from taking over the city? My ripples just aren't that wide.

So now, as I am attending more funerals of people my own age, I realize it is not so much about how I will be remembered when I die, but will my memory linger at all? It is a bitter pill to swallow, a major readjustment as I gauge my life, my decisions, my goals. How does one live this new phase of life--knowing that tomorrow is not promised, that all you have accomplished will be forgotten?

Then I turned to Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 NKJ.

9. What profit has the worker from that in which he labors?
10. I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.
11. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
12. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives.
13. and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of his labor--it is the gift of God.

Why didn't I notice those verses years ago? I guess I needed them the most--today.

I'M BACK

I know that I have been away for awhile, but things really got to be overwhelming, working during the week and rushing to Murfreesboro on the weekends, or on the weekends we couldn't get away, we had twice as much work to do at home. It was worth it, to give Adam a little extra time with his father.

Frank Mabry died on Friday, March 27th, at 7:22 PM. He wanted to die in his own home and he did. I thought he might have more time and a better quality of life if he had gone to the hospital sooner or more often, but that wasn't my choice to make. Right up until the end he wanted to be independent--and he was.

I knew Frank for 29 years. Adam knew him all his life. He will be greatly missed.

Great Regret

It is with a heavy heart that I come to you today. A family member has been diagnosed with an incurable disease and has been given a brief time to live. He will probably be put in hospice and kept comfortable.

For this reason my post will probably be few and brief. I must deal with a family crisis and with normal life at the same time.

Please remember us in your prayers.

A Better Place

I just received some sad news. The youngest of my aunts, Linda Tippitt, died. It was all quite sudden, unexpected. I was supposed to meet her in a couple of weeks, at a family reunion. I didn't even know she had gotten the flue.

I was closer, in age, to my aunt than to my own sisters. Naturally I am reminiscing and memories are flooding my mind. Much of my family lived in the hills in middle TN. My grandmother's property was 45 minutes away from any town. Camden was on one end of the highway and Holladay was on the other. The countryside is beautiful there, with two state parks. I try to visit the area at least once a year.

I remember when Linda was in high school, getting ready for the senior banquet. My Grandmother designed and sewed a beautiful lacy formal gown for her. She looked like a queen when she left for the event.

Linda attended Holladay High School and was one of about a dozen in her graduating class. She eventually went on to nursing school. Linda never left her little community, though she did move into Camden to be near the hospital.

Over the years Camden has grown. Once life centered around the town square. Then the town got a Super Wal-Mart. Whenever Linda asked about my writing she would ask, "When are you going to get a book into Wal-Mart?" Now, if it should happen, that accomplishment will be bitter-sweet.

I am at that age where I know about as many people on the other side of life as on this side. I like to think that my beloved grandmother is a little happier in Heaven as each of her children join her there. Others might argue that point on some sort of theological grounds. One thing I do know is this, there is a part of Aunt Linda that is in a better place, better even than the beautiful hills of Tennesssee.