How good it was to step off that plane in Burbank and feel the warmth of the sun heating the air around us. The snow began falling on Saturday in Ohio and the temps dropped into the 20’s while the blowing winds made it feel like single digits. Reminded me of why we decided to move to California 21 years ago.

The week was stressful, sad and full of poignant family memories. It was great to see so many family members as well as many old friends I had not seen for such a long time. How unfortunate, though, that it takes a family tragedy to bring us all together…

Jean is at rest now and for that we are thankful. She is no longer suffering through the ravages of cancer and was ready for her life to end. I don’t blame her for being ready even though her family was not and is not ready to say farewell. It’s been a long and difficult 5 months for all her family–and so much more difficult for her. Was it worth those months of suffering to hang around? Were it me, I think I’d rather just go and not have to suffer through the treatments and associated pain. But there was always hope that she’d conquer this dreaded disease, so she kept hanging on until she realized she couldn’t beat it. And then she said goodbye to all around her and shed a single tear as she left us.

When I returned to work on Monday, there was a beautiful purple and white orchid sitting on my desk. Next to it was a card with wonderful wishes from all my coworkers at All Saints. I’ll keep the orchid at home as a beautiful memory of my sister. Thanks to all who have offered their sympathetic wishes and shoulders to cry on.

It’s hard to get back to “normal” after all we’ve been through, but I know life will eventually go on and the good times will return. That first year just seems so long, though.

Almost forgot to mention my little “accident” right after the funeral. I slipped on something in the church driveway while headed to the car and sprained my left ankle, smashed my right knee and smacked my face on the asphalt resulting in lots of pain–and a lovely black eye! Patrick did a great job getting me to a nearby drugstore where he got a first aid kit and some emergency ice packs. My head (just over my right eye) is still extremely sore, the skin around my right eye is multi-colored purple, yellow and brown, and my right knee is still causing lots of difficulty when walking and climbing stairs. Veronica provided a fresh bottle of Advil when she picked us up at the airport, so it should just be a matter of time before all this is just a painful memory. Thank goodness I’m recovering in warmth rather than the icy temps in Ohio!