A friend that I shared some really rough times with was buried today. He was a couple years younger than I and we shared heart history, radiation history and were diagnosed with Cancer about the same time. Mine was lip cancer and,... other than a little lopsided mouth, some numbness, and a scar, I have done well. His was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and has been in a battle ever since except for one brief remission. I am sad to lose a friend but know he has truly gone home and I am joyful in sorrow because of it. There were at least 500 last night at the church for the viewing and more than half of that amount today. I don't think all the people I know would add up to that many let alone ones that would come to my funeral.
. The church graveyard is less than a mile from our church and we had a procession there and the committing of his body back to the soil and then all headed back to church for lunch.
On the way back people in our group started pulling off the road near this little convenience store since news travels fast on our cellular grapevine. I was riding with my son and his family and his in-laws and we too pulled over and everyone piled out of the car....I was in the third row...and was told a nurse was needed. We were quite a site I'm sure. Maybe 75 people or so and mostly in black with no apparent reason such as an auto accident for being there. The word was that Jim, one of our members from a sister church, had had a possible heart attack. He was still sitting in the drivers seat with his feet out the door. The passenger seat was empty so I just got in that side and put my arm around Jim's shoulder. EMS was already on the way. He was awake and confused but still prayed along with the elders who were praying right outside the car. He just kept smiling at me since we too have shared history. He has rheumatic heart disease, a mechanical mitral valve, and is on coumadin. EMS was there in no time and I turned him over to them. I don't think he had a heart attack but suspect a TIA and will find out some info later.
Jim is a few years older than me and I was unaware of his heart problems until I developed my own. The morning, taken in its entirety, just had a strange feel to it. Hearing all the conversation about Jim's valve and conflicting reports of his recent echo reports all within mere minutes of our joint friend's burial seemed so unreal. I guess part of it is I never really think of having an illness but more like being merely damaged or something.
Another friend of mine laughed and commented to me at the graveyard that we would have to hurry and die since we were running out of spaces. There is something nice about a church graveyard where many of the names on the markers are people you know or at least know their family. I just love where I live and the people I know here. I even think Mike(who we had just buried) would have found this morning interesting. He had engraved on his vault that his future was so bright he needed sunshades. No surprise that his pallbearers all wore sunglasses. Like I said, it has been a strange day.
. The church graveyard is less than a mile from our church and we had a procession there and the committing of his body back to the soil and then all headed back to church for lunch.On the way back people in our group started pulling off the road near this little convenience store since news travels fast on our cellular grapevine. I was riding with my son and his family and his in-laws and we too pulled over and everyone piled out of the car....I was in the third row...and was told a nurse was needed. We were quite a site I'm sure. Maybe 75 people or so and mostly in black with no apparent reason such as an auto accident for being there. The word was that Jim, one of our members from a sister church, had had a possible heart attack. He was still sitting in the drivers seat with his feet out the door. The passenger seat was empty so I just got in that side and put my arm around Jim's shoulder. EMS was already on the way. He was awake and confused but still prayed along with the elders who were praying right outside the car. He just kept smiling at me since we too have shared history. He has rheumatic heart disease, a mechanical mitral valve, and is on coumadin. EMS was there in no time and I turned him over to them. I don't think he had a heart attack but suspect a TIA and will find out some info later.
Jim is a few years older than me and I was unaware of his heart problems until I developed my own. The morning, taken in its entirety, just had a strange feel to it. Hearing all the conversation about Jim's valve and conflicting reports of his recent echo reports all within mere minutes of our joint friend's burial seemed so unreal. I guess part of it is I never really think of having an illness but more like being merely damaged or something.
Another friend of mine laughed and commented to me at the graveyard that we would have to hurry and die since we were running out of spaces. There is something nice about a church graveyard where many of the names on the markers are people you know or at least know their family. I just love where I live and the people I know here. I even think Mike(who we had just buried) would have found this morning interesting. He had engraved on his vault that his future was so bright he needed sunshades. No surprise that his pallbearers all wore sunglasses. Like I said, it has been a strange day.
