In Death, We Are The Blessed....

'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.' Matthew 5:4

For 'THEY,' shall be comforted. That is what Jesus preached when he preached the Beatitudes, but recently, I lost a friend that I loved dearly. A man who suffered so much and yet always had a smile on his face, a quick wit and cried when you told him the children were praying for him.

He endured so much pain near the end and yet, he never gave up that He was being used as an instrument for others to see that even though he suffered pain, sickness in his earthly body, He believed in God, in heaven and knew (we all knew) where he was headed after his death.

True to his nature, he was promoted to angel status after his wife left his side and told him she was going home to take care of his beloved dog, his chickens and before it got dark. He worried so much about her driving after dark on the long ride home. As his wife entered the house, the phone was ringing, he had just passed away.

I didn't get the call until the next morning and it wasn't your usual dreary or gloomy call. It came like this: 'Good Morning, where are you?' we were on the way to Olympia and I asked, 'do you need me to meet you somewhere?' She was with our boss, his wife and another friend, I could hear them...'oh no, I was just calling to tell you Harold was promoted.'

At first I thought that meant he was out of critical care and then it hit me....Harold was promoted to angel status. I asked her if I could do anything, she said no she was fine & the week-end was amazing.

I went by her home with the kids, they played with the dog, the new kittens and we talked and laughed so much and friends came and went. I learned so much I didn't know about him...he loved cowboy hats, rode motorcycles for years...they vacationed on motorcycles, choosing a spot and taking off...he was a trucker, a mechanic and he like all of us had made mistakes in life and unlike so many of us, had asked for forgiveness from those he loved and felt he may have hurt.

In her grief, she has blessed me with an amazing grace and love I have never known or seen in anyone. She is strong because she knows without a doubt where she is going and where he is already. Rarely have I seen her break down because he would expect her to be strong.

I have been told by those who know her how much comfort she has given them during this time of grieving and it doesn't stop with her strength, her love of God, she keeps going and comforting all of us around her.

This woman, is a pillar of strength to all of us and she will carry on, she is already planning on the volunteer work that will now fill her time and reaching out to others.

She has already blessed my family beyond measure, she gave me a job, she is my boss and I love her dearly! May we all remember in death to be as graceful as this woman is!