Just in case some keen-eyed fellow or lass notices the time that today's blogs were posted, yes it is way before dawn. I had been asleep for much of the day, and now my sleep patterns are out of kilter, and so - despite giving stern warnings to two young ladies of this parish not to do this - I have gone completely against my own advice and come downstairs to do the blog, and to play a pointless computer game.
It has been a weird few weeks with daily visits to Marjorie's deathbed. Although I have visited deathbeds before when I was a nurse, and more recently when friends and loved ones have been dying, this is only the second time that I have been to a deathbed on a regular basis and been so emotionally involved in the process of dying. My father, three years ago, was of course the first.
I have seen someone die twice: an old lady when I was a nurse, and my father, and both times I held their hands as they passed on. I wasn't there when Marjorie died, but I was there less than twelve hours before the end of her life, and that was close enough.
Death is a great unmentionable in our society, and the subject is generally taboo. Indeed we punt our old people into `old people's homes` and away from the rest of us, and we usually make them die in hospitals. I was immensely impressed by the way that Kaye and Roy and Lorraine had Marjorie in Kaye's home for the last few weeks, and by the way the three boys came in and out of the room where Marjorie lay, and told her about their day. Lorraine's dog Hattie bumbled in and out, behaving in an utterly doggy manner, and the family continued their day-to-day activities with Marjorie in their midst as she always had been.
This is how it should be and usually isn't.
For those of you who wish to attend, the funeral will be next Monday at 2:00pm. It will be held at Woolsery Parish Church where Marjorie worshipped all her life. I urge as many CFZ members as possible to come and say goodbye. The world, and particularly the CFZ, will be a poorer place without her.
my condolences on Marjorie's death, she was indeed a wunderful lady and will be sorely missed but not forgotten.
ReplyDeletePrayers will be said for those left behind.
Tony, Linda and Family.
I wish we could be there Jon. Please give Kaye a Texas hug from us. She is so kind.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to explain. I got to be with my father as he died. (He was a kind and gentle man who kissed each of his 5 children in bed just before he left every morning at 5 AM to go to military formation.) His greatest gift to me was meeting death bravely. I cannot explain how it bolstered my faith in our eternal soul when I saw his spirit leave his body. Occasionally I feel his presence.