Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2009. This was Mattie's second party to celebrate his 7th birthday. The party was at my friend, Christine's house. In fact, Christine's husband dressed up as a roach, since it was one of Mattie's favorite bugs. So much so, that they even had a roach shaped cake to celebrate the occasion.
Quote of the day: Today's coronavirus update from Johns Hopkins.
- Number of people diagnosed with the virus: 30,843,737
- Number of people who died from the virus: 556,486
This morning, like usual, I woke at 6am. However, instead of listening to the radio, I tuned into a YouTube channel to watch and listen to my friend, Margy's funeral. Honestly if it weren't for COVID, I am not sure churches would even have this technology up and operational so we can virtually attend mass. It was hard enough not to say goodbye to my friend, but if I wasn't able to witness her funeral, that would have been ten times worse. Afterall the funeral was in Virginia and I am in California.
There were about 300 viewers online, and I am happy the family could see so much love and support from around the country. Though it was sad to see the low attendance in the church. I get why, but it is hard enough to be at a funeral for someone you love, but I would imagine even harder not to be surrounded in person with support. Yet again, thinking back to Mattie's funeral, I was on autopilot, and not sure I could absorb everything or everyone around me.
Below, I posted the youtube video of Margy's funeral. Again the wonders of technology, as the family can have this link always, and share it with others. In a way, I wish I had this for Mattie, but the world did not think this way prior to COVID.
Two things caught my attention during Ken's (Margy's husband) eulogy. He mentioned that Margy recently wrote two thank you notes to friends. But never mailed them. He held them up. One was to me! Margy wanted to thank me for all my visits and every trinket I gave her. I was very touched to hear this, and again viewed this note as Margy's last message to me. Which I really needed, as I felt awful not seeing Margy during the Pandemic and also for not having a chance to say goodbye. Certainly I could have written a message to her children or her husband, a message that they would have conveyed to Margy on my behalf before she died. But I just did not have the words, or if I had words to share, I wanted to share them personally, not through a messenger.
Ken shared two stories about Margy, to illustrate her kindness to others. When I heard the stories, all I could think of was myself. Ken was describing Margy and me! Which maybe why Margy and I bonded instantly when we met. The first story took place at the Kennedy Center. Margy and Ken went to see a show. At intermission, Margy went to the restroom. Ken waited outside in the hallway. But Margy apparently was in there a long time. When she came out, he asked her if she was okay. She explained that she got talking to a woman while washing her hands. This woman had cancer, and Margy was listening to her cancer story.
The second story took place in a restaurant. While Ken was enjoying his shrimp, Margy somehow connected with the owner of the restaurant sitting several booths away from them. The owner happened to be a mom who lost a child to cancer. The point was Margy had a way of talking to strangers and connecting instantly with them. Ken's observation of Margy, reminds me of what Peter says about me all the time.
It is hard to believe Margy has been gone from our lives for a week. It just doesn't seem possible. Margy always expressed guilt to me about wanting to live a longer life. She felt guilt because she knew so many children lost their lives to cancer daily. She felt in comparison to these young lives, she shouldn't complain or ask for more. Naturally, I always tried to reframe her thinking and to tell her she should feel NO GUILT. Her life mattered. Therefore, it was important to hope for more time, time to spend with those she loved, and time to make more memories.
I think the moral of the story here is that it is important that we express ourselves to those we love. Waiting for the right time is a problem. Because the right time may never present itself, until it is too late.
The YouTube Video of Margy's funeral:
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