~Be still~

On Monday, I thought we would never make it to Friday.  The days seemed long and sad, full of waiting and waiting for the next thing to happen.  Late last evening, I returned home to Texas from my sister's burial back home in Haven, Kansas.  I was tired and ready for sleep and now I have awoken with a day that is flying by.

But at least we finally made it to Friday.

Today is the first day of trying to return back to normal once again and it's been awhile so I am not really sure what that state of normalcy really was like.  Yet it will come to me and all the others affected by the loss of someone we all loved very much.  

I took comfort in what the preacher said at Sherry's funeral on Wednesday when he told us that Sherry was so much better off than we were that morning.  He reminded us that if she is absent from the body then that means her spirit is with the Lord.  I'm a believer and so it makes sense to me.  No more suffering or yards upon yards of oxygen tubing will be with her.  She will never cry out in pain or sorrow again.  Hey, no more medicine, breathing treatments, or trips to the hospital will be hers.  She is whole once more.

That is comforting to know and I take much solace in it.

So it's time for those still living to continue on and that's what I intend to do.  There are plenty of reminders about her time among us and some of those make me a bit sad right now.  It will be a long time before I ever order a veggie sandwich from the local sandwich shop without thinking of her and the times that we shared one together for lunch.  When her songs come on the radio, I will always remember my sister.  Yet even in the sadness of seeing or hearing things that were familiar about her, at least they are reminders that once Sherry did live.  Her life was important and it mattered.  

At the graveside yesterday, we laid her to rest surrounded by wheat fields and Amish farms that dot the countryside between Haven and Yoder, Kansas.  A nice Kansas south wind blew and the sounds of traffic moving along on K-96 between Hutchinson and Wichita almost seemed like a farewell song to her.  She was really blessed, even in death, to have been driven there by one of her good friends and a former teacher with her at Roosevelt for many years. Bobby said it was his honor to bring her casket to the cemetery and you could tell by the look on his face that he meant it most sincerely.  Not everyone has the chance to have a true friend bring them to their final resting place.

Sherry did.

Psalm 46:10 was one of her favorites and in it we hear the admonition,

"Be still and know that I am God."
Sounds like good advice for us all today.
Be still.

Sherry's daughters, granddaughters, and sisters posed for this photo before the funeral yesterday.  We are her living legacy.