Friday, February 20, 2009

Family Plans

Here is Carmen at Christmas in 2005. I think it symbolizes my thoughts of her now, reaching out to heaven, as our little angel.

We spent most of Thursday with Reed and Dorothy. Their home was full of family, mostly on the Homer (Dorothy's) side. Reed told me that Carmen passed away, after her final battle to stay, at 10:30 PM Wednesday night, in his arms. I believe her steel will kept her here for an additional week, at least. Just before she passed, she raised her left hand and waved goodbye...or possibly hello.

Reed and Dorothy are tender but appear to be doing fine. They, like I, spent most of last night awake. It is comforting to see that, in their sorrow, they have turned toward each other and have grown closer. The boys stayed home from school yesterday. They seemed to be doing fine. But boys are a more mysterious lot. I'm not sure what is going on inside each heart. Hopefully Reed and Dorothy can address their boys' needs and feelings by sharing with them their own.

Reed and Dorothy are planning a family memorial, viewing and burial a week from today (Friday, February 27th), in Brentwood. Saturday there will be a community memorial service. There is likely to be a large attendance on Saturday as so many in the community know about Carmen and have helped in her care in some way. The problems of a child seem to bring out the best in so many people!

And so we will spend this next week gathering together with family and preparing for our final farewell to our little girl. More details will follow.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh, this is a special picture. Yes, how appropriate! And how you can feel the energy of that little one! May peace be with you and your family at this time. Special hugs to each of you!