Jewells of Thought

This fuzzy photo is how my brain feels this afternoon. I haven’t cried all of my emotions out fully and yet knowing where she is has been the key. Not to say I don’t feel emotionally exhausted as I know my family feels in a much worse way.

The past 48 hours have been such a mixture of loss, sadness, gratefulness and even surprise and some happiness. It’s beautiful to see who came because they knew our family and those who knew each and every sister and brother, husband and child of the deceased. So many people stood in line to see someone in my family if not all of us.

Seeing the crowd, once again, took me back it mirrored my cousin’s and my Grandpa’s. Both had record breaking numbers, Aunt Carol’s is now on that list. It’s incredible to be a part of a family known by reputation as having a sweet spirit of Church Service and dependability. Our Family is close-knit because of the values instilled in us.

The service was really nice. It’s not too often to find yourself laughing at funerals by well crafted sentences that bring to life the essence of the person being celebrated. Everyone learned a bit about Aunt Carol today, that even Grandma says she didn’t know.

Goodness there have been so many faces of friends and family I know, which is a slight fraction, to the ultimate number of those who walked through the doors to give their condolences. Why can’t we see our friends and families without a funeral like this bringing us together?

Sunday morning at Church was also emotional for various reasons. Chiefly, one thought came to me about two ladies at Fellowship being family. Marsha who I have been sitting in front of or behind, knew Aunt Carol and was one of the girls that was talked about in the service. Then on the other side of the Church usually a row or two in front of the audio booth sits Doris, Julie’s mother-in-law. I find it intriguing, the three of us knowing her in very different ways throughout her life.

Marsha was the first one that got to meet her and knew her as a school friend doing some pretty weird stuff. Then I came along after she became a mom twice over. Meaning her little brother, 10 years her junior, finally old enough to settle down had me as one of her many nieces. Doris came into our lives in the last 20 years when Julie fell in love with her son giving her another Julie to love. Andrew’s sister and wife are both named Julie.

I just had to marvel at that a bit about how either we affected Carol or she affected us. There are more at Church that knew my aunt but our bonds with her were familial, time-tested. High School friends are sweet reminders of where you came from. There are reminders of her now when I see these two ladies.

The Lord always gives us reminders of those we love and miss in different ways in those that are left behind. It’s a beautiful coping mechanism.