Forward

Yesterday was the service and memorial for my friend. It was a hard day. Another friend who was there said "It's like pulling a band aid off an old wound and making it bleed again. I was just starting to process it and be OK, and then today makes me go back and start all over again in the process."

A good assessment, I thought, and a necessary step. It was both brutal and beautiful and a good celebration of who she was. There were, of course, a lot of tears, my own among them, but there was laughter too, a true testimony to who she was. She always had a lot of laughter in her. I was honored twice over, once to have the opportunity to speak at the service, as well has having the words to my blog entry about her read aloud by the pastor. Many kind words were spoken, many hugs were given and received, many stories were told.

It is time to move forward. Life is short. That's something I've heard all my life. I think, only now, do I really understand how true that is. I wish I could have learned that lesson in a less painful way, but I appreciate the lesson none the less. It's important. And if just one person learns that lesson from reading my words, then I will know that Rochelle, yet again, has touched someone else's heart like she did my own. And that would be something she would be pleased to know.