If Heaven Was An Hour It Would Be Twilight

This past Saturday started early for me with a morning call from my mom that my Aunt Dona (her youngest sister) had passed away suddenly in her home in Oklahoma. If you're my facebook friend, you've seen posts from my aunt; usually smart-assed, always funny. That's how she was. She was an original and we loved her deeply.

The next day I was on a 7AM flight into Oklahoma City, and at 2AM on Monday I was walking into a hotel room in Cherokee, Oklahoma. It's an awful reason to come home but I'm so glad I did. It was nice to see my family all together and I really needed a chance to say goodbye.

My Aunt Dona was a hell of a lady, as evidenced by the 600-ish people who came to her graveside service this morning. I don't think I've cried so hard in a very long time and I know my life won't quite be the same. She's gone too soon, it's tragic and I'm angry. My aunt and her husband had two kids, both of whom are getting married this year. It kills me that they have to do it without their momma, but it is what it is. As one of my other cousins said "I know God has infinite wisdom, but I'm having a hard time with this one".

Aunt Dona had just retired (though she was only 51) and started re-decorating her house, taking time for herself and starting to truly enjoy her life. She had reconnected with her extended family and I think we all kind of felt like we (my cousins and myself) were only just getting to know her as adults rather than as kids. We do know though that she was an original. A one-of-a-kind kind of lady and we are all better for having known her. Please pray for our family and all who loved her as this is a devastating loss for everyone.

"If heaven was a town it would be my town
On a summer day in 1985
And everything I wanted was out there waiting
And everyone I loved was still alive"-Andy Griggs

Or, as my Aunt Dona had on her facebook "Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways totally worn out shouting "Holy Sh*t what a ride!!!"

We miss you already Aunt Dona. I hope they have boats in heaven :)

Say hi to Peepaw for us.

"I just want to be as good a person as my dog thinks I am"
-Unknown

I hate goodbyes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. ~Charles M. Schulz

I feel that I’ve been really lucky to have Erik working in battalion full of guys who married great ladies. I truly look forward to all the gatherings that someone, somewhere along the line affectionately termed “mandatory fun”, because I really value the friendships that I’ve built with the ladies of the BN and I love to be around them. I don’t know what I’d do without some of the ladies I’ve met and the friendships I’ve made. Like I said, I’ve been really lucky.

Now it’s my experience that the period of transition that deployment brings doesn’t really end when the deployment is over. After you’ve welcome back your loved one, you have to start saying goodbye to others that you love. People leave the Army, they move, you move, and there you are saying goodbye again.
Now it’s true, the Army is a surprisingly small entity and chances are we’ll cross paths again, but that doesn’t make goodbye any easier. And have I ever told you how much I hate saying goodbye? I’d sooner just leave unannounced. As you may know, I’m a crier.

* * * * * *

Nothing makes the earth seem so spacious as to have friends at a distance; they make the latitudes and longitudes. ~Henry David Thoreau

Yeah, I'm pretty bad about this. I really WANT to be better....

So obviously I'm not very good at blogging with Erik home, but I'm going to start trying to do better. Tomorrow.

We'll start with my random realization today:

Erik's camera cord has been to more countries than I have. This needs to be remedied. Who wants to go to Australia?

More later. And hopefully it will have a little more substance...