Aunt Connie

In April, my youngest aunt, just 51 years old, suddenly left his earth.  We aren’t quite sure what happened to Connie, a fifth-grade teacher who at the time she died was with her schoolchildren on a field trip.  Lucky for her, she fell over dead while brushing her teeth. It was probably a blood clot to the lung or brain.  However it happened, it was a great way to leave the land of the dying.

Her husband, Greg Williams, began posting on Facebook shortly after Connie died as a way to express and articulate the experience of losing a spouse of 35 years.  I’ve been following Uncle Greg’s posts for the past 6 weeks and decided to copy and paste one of his latest in this blog.  Greg always captures the depth and meaning of a soul rooted in the Eternal One, the co-suffering and co-dying Man-God of the cross, the resurrection, and Love.

I hope it moves and encourages you.  Here is also a link: https://www.facebook.com/connie.williams.505?fref=ts

Woke up and said ok nothing to post today. Headed to work and for some reason thought of the last time Connie and I had seen each other. That set the sprinklers off. First time I really have thought about it. So now it is not only the firsts that get you but also the lasts. I can look back on it with no regrets. The last time we saw each other was me taking a latte to her at the school for her trip. Got a good hug and kiss and I love you in before she left. Also had good texts the night before. We both knew how we felt about each other. Every time one of us left the house we kissed and hugged and expressed our love. Every time. We both said what if something were to happen. Every time. Boy I am so glad I have no regrets because of that. Don’t assume. Make sure you are telling and showing each other every time. Just to make sure you are understanding I mean every time! . So back to the firsts and the lasts. Those are hard things when you are going through this. Then I thought about Jesus being the first and last. Revelations 22:13- “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end”. First and last for me is kind of relative. God was, is, and will be in control. My firsts are not the beginning and my lasts are not the end. Sure I need to work through them and they are hard, but that is being shortsighted. God helps us work through the here and now until we can see the big picture – God has always been in control. This is not a sad ending. He blows my firsts and lasts away with His eternal presence. No regrets love u tons.

Absent tooth

As I bit into a day-old bagel this past Sunday evening I heard an unusual crackle in my mouth.  The bagel bite crushed my 10 year-old front incisor crown.   It was an awful sound that caused an uneasy feeling of “what just happened to me?”  Have you ever seen and heard a car wreck?…

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