A Celebration of Life

Yesterday we had the funeral service for my best friend's mother, who was 91. It was such a wonderful tribute to her life. Her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends were all gathered to remember her.

Her grandson-in-law sang (and beautifully, I might add) "I Wish You Could See Me Now"; a friend had made the casket piece and a spray of what the family lovingly called the "Hoorah" bush. This bush stood at the end of her house and any time the kids, grandkids, or great-grandkids misbehaved, they had to go get a switch off the hoorah bush to be spanked with. Another grandson wrote a poem about his grandmother, her love for her family, and the hoorah bush. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place. What a legacy she left!

I've always been so envious of these large, close families. When I first met my friend, we "clicked" because we seemed to have so much in common. She was the baby out of five children...way younger than her siblings; I was the baby out of four children....way younger than my siblings. She married right out of high school; so did I; our "first borns" were about the same age; and we just thought alike!

But, seeing her family and their and their family's reaction to their mother's death was so, so different from the way we reacted to my mother's death earlier this year. We don't seem like a close family at all. We've always been so non-demonstrative when it concerns our love for each other. I wonder why?

I'm glad my friend has that loving, caring network to fall back on in the coming months. They will be hard beyond belief and I know she's going to need their support.