a gentle goodbye

There are quiet heroes who walk among us—the givers of the world, who take care of the rest of us.  Who see a need and fill it, who  reach out to help without being asked —who often do this without anyone knowing what they did.

I am not one of those people—but some of them reached out to Gail, who I wrote about recently.  They made sure she wasn’t alone near the end of her life, and they also made sure she was remembered.

To remember Gail,  Karen and her sister Jill hosted a tea party yesterday —appropriate in light of all the teapots Gail helped people paint.

If Gail had been here, her artistry would have been visible around us.  Instead it was there in our stories and our memories of what she brought  into our lives– even the earrings I wore, that Gail made when I was learning how to do beading.

Although Gail’s life didn’t make waves in the  world,  what matters is not the number –but the impact on the lives of the people we touch.

In its simplicity, this gathering did what every  memorial ritual is intended to do—to bring a sense of closure to those who remember.   It felt just right—-  hopefully as Gail might have wanted it.