A beautiful and sad day

It was a beautiful and yet sad day today. It was the funeral for our dear Sister Rosemary. It was so sad to say good bye to her, but as a Catholic, I know I will see her again when it is my turn to go home to God. And knowing that made it a beautiful day.

The liturgy was very moving and our pastor gave a beautiful homily. There were many Sisters from her order in attendance and their voices filled the church like a choir of angels. I was honored when my friend N and I were asked to help place the pall on her casket along with two of her relatives. It truly made me feel like I was a part of her family. I only wish that my husband and son could have been with me. But work obligations and mid-terms made that impossible. So I mourned alone in church, but I knew that she was in the thoughts and prayers of both of them.

When I read her obituary in the paper yesterday, I marveled at the many places that she had been assigned and thought about all the lives that she must have touched over the years. And I was so lucky that I had been touched by her kindness and gentleness and love too.

And through her illness and passing I met her family and was finally able to connect faces with the names I heard so often over the years. And I met many of her Franciscan family who opened their hearts to my family and N's family too. I will miss her, but I will carry her in my heart forever.