TJ Knits

Well, this is obviously not knitting content. And I do assure you that I will not change my blog to read only about death and dying. I know that many will never even read this and that's okay, there is a part of blogging that is just to satisfy the part in all of us that needs to write out our thoughts and feelings. The reality is that death is a part of life. And sometimes you just can't knit! I know I have been stressed over the edge when I can't even mindlessly knit the ribbing on a sock! Yesterday I went to the memorial service for our dear friend Laura. I cried the whole time. I know, it's silly, but my grief really needed to pour out. I sat surrounded by people I didn't know and who will probably never see again and quietly cried. I laughed too. There were many things to laugh at because Laura was so filled with joy! Before I go on, I will say that this photo is Laura's Girl Scout windbreaker. Laura was active in adult Girl Scouting, even earning an honor pin, which truly is a great honor. She worked in training leaders here in the Sacramento area council. The service covered the different areas of her life...church, Girl Scouting, Red Hat Society and Square/Round Dancing. People from those areas spoke. There were some pretty hilarious stories. The pastor talked about how Laura's faith was "the real deal". Wow! What a great way to describe it. She did live out her faith every day. Her husband spoke...that was hard. He talked about how he and another guy courted her in college and she made a pro and con list for each guy and that she chose him...he said, "I was the winner and she made me feel like the winner every day for 35 years." The pastor also talked about how Laura's love for her husband made him the man that he is. The congregational hymn (there were over 400 people there) was "It Is Well With My Soul." It was so appropriate and has always been one of my favorites. The message of that hymn is so powerful. There was a slide show of pictures of Laura's life. One of them was Laura and I holding my newborn twin daughters sitting on our couch. Another was a silly one I had taken of Laura riding on DS' toddler bike, she was making a funny face...everyone cracked up laughing when they saw that and I was so happy because that picture to me captured her essence so much! I had not included it on the blog because it was from my pre-digital days! Well, the most tear producing time that day was when they had the song from Ray Boltz, "Thank You." It was so appropriate because of all of Laura's work with children. She taught Sunday School for years, did VBS and had her own daycare for 25 years. She has influenced so many childrens' lives, not just my own. I have posted the lyrics on the blog, they will appear just before or after this post. I didn't see the family, except for Laura's daughter. It was the first time we met and it was special. I looked into her face and I saw her Mother there. I am hoping we will have some contact with each other in the future. The whole service really was a beautiful tribute to Laura. It did help me a little in my grief. I still just wish I could wake up tomorrow and this was all a bad dream. However, I trust the Father and never doubt that He truly does know best, even if I cannot understand in the here and now. I will need some time to grieve, then I hope to return to my regularly scheduled blogging! :o)