Tag Archives: Friends

Unanswered Questions

Posted on by

If you hadn’t just recently taken the stairway to heaven I would ask you (over tea at your house) how you became such an interesting conversationalist. You were never at a loss for topics and when you discussed people, nothing was ever gossip, just good informational facts.

I would ask you how you developed your knack for making people feel so comfortable upon first meeting them.

I would ask where you found the patience to knit and crochet all the thousands of things you created over the years; and how fundraising became such an integral part of your talents.

I would ask what was your secret for growing such beautiful orchids and roses, to the delight of neighbors and friends..

There are so many questions left unanswered now that you are no longer here; questions that only you know the answers to.

But since you did recently take the stairway to heaven, Norean, I really have to ask, “What is it like there?” That is really the most unanswered question.

 

God’s Gain

Posted on by

Our loss is God’s gain. Yesterday, we lost another wonderful member of our congregation. Joan was a true servant of God, wearing oh, so many hats, as she went about quietly seeing to many matters of our church. She was a friend, advisor, chief cook and bottle washer on many occasions, a money manager, a session member, a choir member, and the list goes on. As well as being so many things to her church family, Joan was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and devoted sister.

Psalm 116:15 says it well, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints”.

I’m sure Joan is marching with all the other saints in heaven as we, her friends and family, take comfort in the fact that our loss is God’s gain.

Rest in peace, Saint Joan, rest in peace.

The Double Rainbow

Posted on by

My best friend and her sister had never lived apart in their lives except for a brief period when one of them was first married. Their lives were intertwined through childhood, early adulthood, middle years and elder age.

Tanya died first in 2008 after a battle with lung cancer. She was seventy-one years old, and her passing had left her sister alone for the first time in her life.

In 2014 Virginia, in her seventy-fifth year, succumbed to life-threatening injuries after being struck by a bus one sunny September morning.

The “ladies”, as they were lovingly referred to by family and friends, were together once again as the urns containing their ashes sat side by side in the final home they had shared, awaiting an appropriate burial location to be mutually decided upon by the family.

It seems that whenever a rainbow was sighted after the ladies had left earth, it was a promising reminder that they were united again, because the rainbow is a sign of promise.

Their memorial was held just last week and they were interred together in their final resting place. It drizzled rain during the committal but when it was time to honor their lives with celebration, a beautiful double rainbow appeared in the heavens over the site.

What a wonderful sign of promise that my best friend and her sister will never be apart again.

 

download

 

 

 

Another Random Act of Kindness

Posted on by

Last week, one of my granddaughters, her mother, and five friends went to the Air Canada Center here in Toronto to see Shania Twain. Courtney and her long-time friend had been adoring fans of Shania since they were eight years old, and are now in their mid-twenties. When they heard their hero was coming to perform in Toronto, they immediately ordered tickets. Top choice tickets were out of their price range and so they purchased balcony seats, but were not able to get all seven seats together.

The long awaited night arrived and the two girls were beside themselves with excitement…the rest of the group…a little less so, but excited all the same.

As the escalator ascended, a uniformed usher stopped them on their way to their balcony seats and asked if they knew where they were going. When they confirmed that they were on their way to the balcony, he said, “No, I am giving you tickets to the main floor.” Courtney couldn’t believe her ears but then said, “Oh, except there are seven of us.” With that the usher handed her seven tickets to the top choice area…seven seats in a row.

Needless to say, the group of seven was ecstatic with this change of events, and were totally taken with Shania Twain’s performance.

This is the second random act of kindness which has come to my attention within a short period of time…once again, doesn’t it make you want to pay it forward?

 

And Life Goes On

Posted on by

Yesterday a friend and member of our congregation celebrated her birthday. I’m sure she enjoyed her day as those of us who look forward to our birthdays usually do.

It was also Father’s Day, and a very sad day for another member of our congregation whose elderly father slipped out of this life and into the next.

I had the opportunity to be with each of these people just before their special day; a day they shared in such different ways; and I was glad for that opportunity.

Once again we are reminded of the intertwining of life events. Birthdays and death days are allotted to each of us, and both are a reminder that life does go on.