There is nothing like death to wake a person up

A former client of mine passed away suddenly this month.  I went to her memorial service yesterday.  There was a moment toward the end of the service when we all sat in silence with our thoughts and memories about her.  She had had some unthinkable tragedies in her life, but she had also had a life with joy and purpose.

In that silence, I wondered how hard it was for her to die?  I wondered if she worried about those she left behind who themselves were struggling and often relied upon her as a lifeline?

I quickly saw these thoughts were little more than a torment.  Whatever her death had been like for her, whatever she had or had not thought about it, it had already happened and those moments were now past.

Then I simply sat with what I knew and had learned about her life.  The chapel was full of people to whom it made a very big difference that she had lived.  And so, in the silence we all shared, I found myself thinking, simply, Thank you, thank you, thank you.