Monday, February 09, 2009

Match Made in Heaven

I went to the funeral of a friend today. I actually didn't know him that well, my husband knew him better. He was a little older than me, and died fairly young. I taught his twin daughters in the young women's church class. He had diabetes, and had lost one leg because of it. We attended the same Ward, but after the Ward boundaries were realligned, he was assigned to a different Ward, and I didn't see him again. It's been about 3 years since then, and I didn't know he was ailing, so this was a surprise.

I knew he had health problems. He had diabetes, and developed kidney failure. I heard that since I last saw him, he lost his other leg, and some fingers because of diabetes complications. He was having dialysis regularly. He ultimately died of a heart attack, caused by his health problems. Considering how unhealthy he was, he actually lived a long time. But it's sad that he wasn't able to live longer.

I was thinking back to the first time I talked to him. He called the house one day not long after we moved here. He wanted to talk with my husband, but he wasn't home. So he began to talk to me a little and started telling me about his life. This was one of those experiences that was new to me after moving to California. I found that the people here were much more open, and I would meet a total stranger in the grocery line and they would tell me their life story. The same thing happened on the phone with this man. He had recently been divorced from his wife, but he told me that he still loved her, and he wanted to win her back. He literally poured out his soul on the phone. I didn't quite know how to respond, because I didn't even know him, and had never even seen him before. But I listened, and filed it away as one of those interesting experiences when someone felt comfortable enough to open up to me, a stranger.

I knew his ex-wife too. She had remarried by the time I met her. She didn't come to church often, but I saw her occasionally. I often thought about what he had told me, and wondered if they would ever get back together. She had some health problems, although I'm not sure what. She died of the same condition her mother died of, and at the same age her mother died. She also was quite young at the time of her death.

As I sat in that funeral today, I couldn't help but imagine them meeting up again in the spirit world. I'm sure that he is doing his best to renew his relationship with her.

2 comments:

Amber said...

i look forward to heaven for that same thing - a chance for those that have really hurt me to realize it and come tell me they're sorry - lol maybe it's bad that i think that way - but it would make me feel alot better to have that closure

Inklings said...

The scriptures tell us that we reamin who we are, and those who are good will be good still, those who are filthy will be filthy still, etc, so she probably wants to be divorced still. :0)