Saying Goodbye

Wednesday my cousin Wende went home to be with Jesus. I haven't posted about it before now because I wasn't sure what to say. Goodbyes are hard, they suck. I'm not sad for Wende. She's in Heaven where she will never struggle or suffer again. She will never have to take another shot and her body will be healed and whole again. She's getting to sit at the feet of our Heavenly Father - there's nothing about that that calls for grief. My heart hurts for those she left behind, though. She was a wife, mother, daughter, sister, grandaughter, aunt, cousin, niece, and friend...that leaves behind a lot of sad hearts.

Tonight was the visitation. Until tonight, I've been able to pretend it's not real. Tonight as I saw her mom and dad shed tears, it broke my heart. I watched her son and daughter and couldn't help but be reminded that they will never hug their mom again. It doesn't get any more real than that.

The visitation was beautiful. The church was full of flowers. I have honestly never seen so many flowers at a service before. The line of people there to say goodbye was unbelieveable. They were wrapped all the way around the church. Wende was a free spirit and full of life. She was strong and only did things her way! People loved her and it was nice tonight to see how many lives she touched.

Molly Grace went to the visitation with us. There was a lot of family there and I knew she wasn't old enough for it to be traumatic. Before we left, I walked up front to say goodbye to my aunt and Molly Grace saw Wende lying in her casket. She pointed and said "shhhh". She thought she was asleep. For some reason this was so comforting to me. The way MG saw her was so innocent. Her soul is no longer in that sleeping body. She can rest peacefully.