Since October of 2009, when I had returned to my mom after nine-and-a-half months of living with my dad when he had to have surgery and go somewhere to recover from said surgery, I had been attending a Baptist church in my current hometown. There was an elderly whom I would often sit next to. She and I would talk a bit before the service. One of the things that would come up was my job search. She'd ask how it was going, and I'd admit that it wasn't going so well. She was sympathetic of this. (She knew the economy was making it hard to get a job.)
Last week, I had heard that she was in the hospital. I think it had something to do with a hip injury. If the weather had allowed, I maybe would've gone to see her. I found out today that she died on Thursday, and her funeral was this afternoon. After church, I went home basically just long enough to eat some lunch and then headed over to the funeral home where said funeral was taking place. (The burial is set to be a private family one to take place on another date.) I was hoping that today, I'd maybe get some clarification from the pastor as to the details of her condition and maybe find out what part of the hospital she was in so that I could perhaps go see her. But obviously, it was too late. She lived to be 79.
We could all be confident that we'll see someone again or that we'll get to do xyz only for death to change all that. Will I live as long as my friend did? I don't know at this point. On the one hand, I regret not seeing her one last time before her passing. If I knew earlier specifically which part of the hospital she was in, I would've maybe toughed out the weather we had been having to go see her.
Church won't be the same anymore without her to talk to before service. Perhaps the empty seat next to me is symbolic of the void that her passing has left. Will someone else fill the seat next to me? Who knows? All I know is that I should never take for granted the people in my life (in my family, at church, or anywhere else). After all, one day they could be gone for good.
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