Coincidences

A blogging friend recently lost a friend and quilting buddy.  I looked up a poem by Henry Vandyke I had heard at a funeral more than 20 years ago that gave me comfort... so I could share it with her.

I am standing upon the seashore.  
A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.  
She is an object of beauty and strength.  
I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other. 

Then someone at my side says: “There... she is gone!”

“Gone where?”

Gone from my sight, that is all.  

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of living freight to her destined port.  

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. 

And just at the moment when someone at my side says: “There, she is gone!”...  there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: “Here she comes!” 

And that is dying.

Today, I got word that a friend and coworker whom I have not seen since this past December was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, was in ICU, and was not expected to live through the day.

I was shocked, devastated, aghast...  I couldn't take the news in.

I've done all the right things since hearing this sad news....  I made sure I was around people, talked to them, stayed busy, spoke with a friend when I got home....

I want to find a way to honor an outstanding teacher who made a difference in the lives of her students... a friend who always had a smile on her face, a positive attitude, a kind word for everyone... who was outgoing, active, and a part of the community.... a truly special person.

Interesting that after looking up the above poem for someone else, I needed it myself... a coincidence?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Barbara, my friend... you are loved and you will be missed...