Loss of a friend

When my brother, Phil, passed away his obituary was printed in our home town paper. On the day it appeared, I received a phone call from a girl we had grown up with but whom I had not seen in over 40 years. The phone call, in and of itself, was enough of a surprise but she had read of Phil's passing and somehow tracked down my cell phone number and took the time to call and reach out to me. This thoughtfulness was really amazing since she had left not only Beaumont but Texas and had been living in Washington state for 30 + years and read the obits online that day for Beaumont. During our conversation, she told me she was moving back to Lumberton, just north of Beaumont, because she was coming home to die. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and wanted to come home to be near her family. I told her I wanted to come see her when she got here and got settled and asked her to call me when she felt like having company. Weeks went by and I never heard from her so I began trying to reach her. I was never successful so I went to the internet asking if anyone had news of her and how to reach her. Sadly, this week I received the news I had been dreading. Darlene passed away two weeks ago and I never got the chance to tell her in person how much her reaching out to me in one of my darkest moments meant. Here are my words of wisdom for today... take the time to reach out, take the time to tell others how their kindness was appreciated, do today what you may not have another opportunity to do. My prayers and condolences go out to the family of my friend and I would like for them to know what a caring loving person she was. God Bless you, Darlene and until we meet again, may God hold you in his loving hands. Rest in peace.