Lost Love

A dear friend lost her mother to cancer a week ago. The funeral was today. Of course, we assume there is a certain order to the universe ... we all plan to see our children grown, bounce grandbabies and maybe great-grandbabies on our knees, we plan to live to a ripe old age, be healthy to the end, and our children will be pretty darn old, too, by the time they have to bury us. These are the assumptions we often take for granted.

Well, Ann was only 66. Cancer took her quickly - in just two months. Her children and grandchildren watched her suffer with the grace and enduring faith that guided her life ... and today they celebrated that life along with the promise of her salvation. Fr. Patnode said something during the funeral Mass homily that really touched me. He said that when we lose someone we love, we all have to love each other a little bit more ... to try to make up for that lost love. Hmmm.

Although I didn't know Ann, I know first-hand that she raised great kids and grandkids. The love she so freely poured out onto them has come pouring down onto me many times over. Her life has blessed me ... love is like that.

So Ann Melton, generous giver of love ~ may you rest peacefully in the arms of Christ ... held close to His own tender heart.