The Last Good-bye

Earlier this week, I received a phone call from a long-time neighbor's son about the death of his mother.  We had been in contact on and off through the decades even though we had moved from that neighborhood in Indian Village back in 1975.  Sally's kids and mine had spent many hours through the many years together because the family lived across the street from our first family home.  They'd moved there when their youngest was a mere infant.  Now Sally is gone.  Apparently she went peacefully in her sleep.  Her oldest son had just talked to her when she was ready to go to bed.  The next morning the youngest, who lived with her mom, went to wake her.  April saw that her mom was cold to the touch.  So started that hard journey down the road of calling siblings and other family members, along with friends.  It will be hard to continue without their beloved mother, but they live with the knowledge of what a giving and caring person she was.  The chaplain spoke of Sally's gift of a kidney to her sister 35 years ago.  Both the sister and Sally's family know that there is not only a part of their mother in their hearts, but a physical part in their aunt who is a testimony to the worth of their mother.