I just got home from my friend A.J.’s house. Her mom passed away Sunday evening around 6:30 p.m after a 6 month battle with pancreatic cancer. A.J. had called me earlier in the day to let me know that it wasn’t going to be much longer, but even when the phone call came, I still felt surprised. It’s just hard to imagine that someone who was so full of life is gone. Last week while I was in the midst of all my life changes, I spent an evening helping A.J. write her mom’s eulogy. Needless to say, it put things in their proper perspective.
This evening their home was filled with friends, family, laughter and tears. It was the kind of gathering that always seemed to happen at their house, but tonight her mom wasn’t there in the center of it all, yet she was the center of it all. I know there is relief that she is no longer in pain, but there is pain in feeling that she’s gone much too early.
A few months ago, I sent her a letter thanking her for how much she encouraged me as a new mother and told her that I hoped to raise Caroline to have the same qualities that she instilled in A.J. She emailed me back (apologizing for the rudeness of email opposed to the written letter, of course) and told me that I was too generous in my compliments and she had definitely made mistakes along the way.
All I know is that tonight, her home was filled with people who think she got it just right. She lived life to the fullest, she always made time for the people she loved, she followed God faithfully, and she fought until the end. And although we know where she is, she’ll be terribly missed.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day…” 2 Timothy 4:7-8