Sail Away

In my previous post I talked about how my oldest bestie's son passed away, and how inadequate I was at making her feel better. Well, I attended the memorial service the other day and was inadequate once again. But I guess I can relax a little bit because at least I know that I tried as hard as I could.

The service itself was very nice. There was a slide show to view, and music to listen to that had been thoughtfully compiled. There were also pretty flowers and a nice chapel for the event. And there were balloons. LOTS of balloons. I wasn't sure why the foyer of the church was full of them but I liked looking at them because to me, balloons are cheerful. And lord knows we could use some cheering up.

The preacher of the church was an extraordinary guy. He claimed that he was an atheist before he became a preacher! That got my attention because I usually break out in hives if I'm even near a church. He promised not to preach at us for long because that wasn't what we were there for. Instead, he invited the people in the chapel to step up to the microphone and tell stories about the young man that had passed. I thought that was a brilliant idea! There were some great stories that made us all laugh. When that was over, anyone who wanted to were invited to get a balloon and wrote a note on it then we all gathered outside and let them go all at once.

I sort of didn't want to let my balloon go because that would mean that the service was really over. The business of healing was beginning. My girlfriend was strong through the whole ordeal. I don't how she stayed so put together. I kept (and keep on now) find myself blubbering at the oddest times.

I'm praying for her harder than I think I've ever prayed for someone before. I'm praying that everyone I know is praying for her, too. Hell, I hope the martians are praying for her! If a million ba-jillion people pray for her, maybe she'll feel a sense of peace. I'll ask any of you reading this to forgive my rambling. I'm just "thinking out loud" in an attempt to find a way to help my friend. Time heals all wounds? Pffft! The time is going by excruciatingly slow people! It's obvious - I can't hold a thought in a straight line for 10 seconds. I give up. I'm ending this one now.