Certainly a woman as wonderful as my sister Carol should have more than an hour of visitation, and hour of service and an afternoon of gathering. After all, doesn't her life mean more to those of us who knew her than the one day we spent paying our respects. That is all the time we are allowed, some have to get back to work, some have to travel long distances and wish to return home, and then how much time can you really spend telling stories and reliving memories?
I have read of great people, I have seen biographies, I've witnessed the action of the great and powerful in public life. We don't know of Oliver North traveling on his own to a distant hospital and putting on his uniform, even though he was retired from the military to visit a young person who wanted to meet him before he died. We often do not know of the personal involvement of the great and powerful in small events that are critical to very few.
I have come to realize there greatness is not limited to great and powerful people when it comes to caring for you fellow man. Everyone has an impact. My sister no less. The visitation and service for my sister was held in a packed church. People from a variety of areas came to pay their respects. I think most understood the difficult health issues Carol had the last three to six months of her life. Not being able to breath with ease was a cause of anxiety and fear that few people know. Yet she persevered. She played bridge, she attended church functions, partied with her Red Hat group, and went to plays and concerts with her friends. She never failed to have a positive effect on people. You would never know she was in trouble until she called a dear friend and said take me to the ER, I'm having breathing problems.
Carol was a tireless worker in the community, but her biggest impact was on her friends. She had many. So if the theory that if we touch one life we may touch many, I am sure she touched many. Probably as many as the "great and powerful." I am also sure her impact was positive. Plus if you count the remarkable family she raised and the grandsons potential for impacting our lives, she was a very remarkable women.
I shall miss her. Many shall miss her. She was a great and powerful woman.
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