I See Dead People - Reflections on a Funeral

I just returned home from a funeral. In this case, the salvation of the dead one was not in question, and that sure gives funerals a different "feel". It's not so final...in a weird way.

I didn't know Betty very well, except that every time I saw her she was encouraging to me and always made me feel good. She was in and out of various SaLT Groups I was in, and I saw her sporadically at church and over the years on a women's retreat or two. Betty made it her responsibility to provide the ice cream at various SaLT gatherings, and made me feel like she did that just for me. The waffle bowls she brought one time were such a hit, that I'm still buying them myself. I guess every time I eat my ice cream in a waffle bowl, I will be reminded of Betty.

I was looking forward to our road trip that she recently asked me to join her on, to get to know her a little better, and I was also hoping for some wise counsel from her. We never went to pick up that hope chest from her aunt and now we never will. Guess God had other plans, but now she is living the hope she believed in. That's WAY better than any hope chest!

I will miss Betty, and I know many more people whose hearts are broken at her passing. I wonder if there will be that many people at my funeral? One thing is for sure though, we all rejoice in knowing that "her chains are gone, she's been set free!"

(Read Betty's Obituary)

Another observation...

You know, as I leaf through pages of my address book, or even scroll my address book on the computer...I've been noticing that I still have the names of the dead in there. I see Betty's name. I see dead people's names, people I have known and loved. I won't cross them out, or delete them. I'm not sure why...it's not like I can email, or write to them anymore...heck, half the time Betty's email bounced back to me anyway! LOL I was always harassing her about that. I guess it is just one of those things that the older I get the more dead people will be listed in my address books. Maybe I don't want to get rid of them because as I pass by them while looking for other names, there is a moment, a fleeting glimpse of how that person touched my life in some large, or small, but significant way.

What do you do with the names of dead people in your address book?