Remembrance

The last time I saw you was during the summer of 2007. I came down for a day to visit you because I had a feeling that it would be the last time I would ever see you and talk to you. It turns out my feeling was right. When I saw you that summer day you opened your arms to me and said with a smile, "Katie, come greet me". You were still as sharp as a tack, and you still had your amazing sense of humor regardless of how sick you felt. I knew you were sad...you had been sad since the day Aunt Jeanne died. From the moment you parted from her, you wanted to be with her. You kept saying that you and Aunt Jeanne would celebrate the one year anniversary on February 2, 2008. You died two days before that one year.

To tell you the truth, I feel guilty for wishing you were still here. The world was a better place with you in it. I heard a story at your funeral about how you brought a nurse who was caring for you to Christ. She said to you, "There is just something about you. I don't know what it is, but you seem so content. Your outlook on the world is just amazing. I've never known anyone like you. What makes you so different?" And you simply replied, "My faith". I'm amazed how you managed to reach another person even while you were dying.

I know you don't want to be remembered with sadness, and I'm sorry for being so sad when you died. I'm sorry I didn't come see you as often as I should have. I think this must be a running theme with me....I said the exact same words to Aunt Jeanne when she died. There is a quote I have always loved and it reminds me of you: "Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all."

~Dr. Edwin Lowell Adams: 4/24/1918- 1/31/2008~