This is not Good bye...

I remember some old timey preachers on movies and T.V.

Baptist ministers I believe... preaching Hell fire and brimstone..

(I guess we Catholics don't own the market on guilt and fear in religion after all )

Lessons on what it means to be a "Good Christen"

I guess the idea was...Let's scare them into goodness.

I would like to give you a synopsis of what a "Good Christen" is.. and

What a good Human Being is...

She was born into a loving Irish/ Italian family...

(How could she lose with that combination?)

She was the middle daughter in a family of four (three girls and one boy)

She liked to bake .. not necessarily for herself.. but for others..

Why? because they liked it and it made them happy....

Which in turn made her happy.

She loved and married a man and loved his young son as well..

She would go on to give him two more sons.. and a lovely daughter .

She carted kids back and forth to games ...and after school activities... all the "Mom" things

She worked long hours doing many things...

All to help give her children advantages that otherwise might not be available.

While raising her own family..

She took care of other people's children as well.. which might not seem like a big deal.. however as many of these families will tell you.. it was a big deal.. because she was no ordinary "Babysitter" she actually loved....disciplined... and taught these children as if they were her own..

I was witness to the truly deep affection she had for these children..

Their feelings..well being and safety were her primary concern.

What seemed like sternness was actually some of the most valuable life lessons theses children would ever learn.. all of it wrapped in a blanket of love..

Her family members had to be careful of how or what they said to her..

Simply because a minor statement of a problem or need would send her into a flurry of somehow trying to find ways of making things right.. regardless of inconvenience to her...

ALWAYS putting the other person first.

Almost to a fault.

So...When the news came that the strange feeling in her leg was in fact more than just a minor muscle pull.. Much Much more..

She did what any young woman with a family would do...

She immediately went into fight mode..

Not only for herself.. but perhaps more so for her family.. a family that still needed her.

And fight she did...

Stubbornly looking Cancer in the face and saying ... "NO DAMN WAY!"

not now anyway..and not without a fight..

Such bravery.. such tenacity..sheer stubborn will.

Love they neighbor... Yes she did..

Honor thy father and mother ... Yes she did

Put others needs before her own... Yes she did

Raise a child up right... Yes she did ( hers and many others )

Share your blessings ... Yes she did..

Love God and Family... Most definitely she did

That my friends is a good Christen..

Was she perfect.. no.. she wasn't

Did she do her best with the life given her?

YES.. she did..

Her sister is one of my very dearest friends..

and stories of her family and mine have been shared and cherished...

At some points they have even interwoven..

Her sister.... is like a sister to me...

She knows things about me

(deep deep down things) that most people don't know.

My friend's sister...passed on from this world today..into that great big next thing that we all have to do...whatever and where ever that is.

My friend loves and misses her sister.. and because my friend is hurting and missing her sister.

I too am hurting.

But.....

I cannot pretend to understand what it feels like to lose a sibling...

Someone you are so close to.. that you are often mistaken for a twin..

It hurts the heart.

and I have no words of comfort.

All I know is...she was a great example of what I believe a Good Christen is supposed to be.. Doing all the things that really matter..

Touching lives and not asking for or expecting anything in return.

What a great example of humanness and unselfish love..

It runs in the family..She learned from the best..

Her mother never faltering in the care of her daughter... Now faces the unthinkable burden of having to bury a child.

How do you keep breathing when your child does not?

It is not the natural order of things..

yet..

She will do what she has to do with grace and dignity ..

because there are others that still need her and because that is her way.

During her illness everyone pulled together and made sacrifices for her

(Something she may not have been so willing to let them do when she was well..)

They now would be called on .....to serve the server..

Perhaps letting them finally do this for her.... was her greatest gift.

It's true...

Her body is no more... but neither is her horrendous pain.

Her Smile is no more.. but in time you will again be able to see it when you look at any one of her children's faces.

Her Heart beats no more.. but the love in that heart can never ever die.

Never

One of the last times I saw her..... at least still healthy.... is a memory I will cherish...

(she wasn't even aware of it.)

I was at our library.. it was early and the doors had not yet opened... as I sat there in my care on this blustery windy morning sipping my coffee..

I noticed at a distance a woman with several small children all walking back from the park.

Mind you the wind was really blowing.. and this lone woman like a tall Mother goose was leading this gaggle of children.

All I could think was this lady is nuts... all those little kids.. in this weather?...Each child was roughly about age...3-4

Each bundled up in jackets... scarves and mittens....each holding the hand of the one next to them....all following this lean lanky woman to a van .

I marveled first at one woman taking care so many children by herself.. especially considering how little they all were..

As she got closer .. I recognised who it was.. and smiled to myself..

She looked so happy the wind blowing her hair all about..

She bent down closer to a little one to say something or perhaps hear better something being said.

One by one she buckled these little whippersnappers in place....

Running after the last one attempting to go rouge.

She knelt down and obviously was giving the nipper a talking to.. and just as she was getting ready to put him in the car... she held him tightly in her arms .... whirled around and dipped him.

She looked so happy..

It's funny... how much people can touch your life.

Sometimes without ever knowing it..

This is not Goodbye Erin.. It's see you later..

No one will have a problem finding you..

You will be the one with all the little ones at your feet.