How to say ‘goodbye’…

I am getting ready to say goodbye to a friend this weekend. It’s not the kind of goodbye where you say, ‘see ya in a couple of weeks’ or ‘write to me when you are settled,’ it’s a longer goodbye where you don’t get to hear a person’s voice except in your mind or see their face except in pictures.

So, I am preparing myself to say goodbye to a friend, the person I trusted with my most precious little girl since she was 8 months old. It’s hard, I find myself crying at little thoughts and remembrances. Times we laughed at the follies of life with water running down walls and plaster peeling off of a ceiling, the joy of pinning and sewing picnic blankets for the youngest daughter’s wedding… I was so privileged to know this wonderful woman, a woman of strength, character, and joy and now I am privileged to celebrate her life.

This weekend I say goodbye to my dear friend and child care provider Ruthie Barrow. She was the mother of 6 children, all different and all challenging and joyful to her I am sure. She was also a grandmother and great-grandmother. She found joy in caring for children and was loving to all of her little ones. She would have been 63 this coming Saturday. So, I am wishing her a Happy Birthday and celebrating her life and saying goodbye.

I'M FREE
Don't grieve for me, for now I'm free
I'm following the path God laid for me.
I took His hand when I heard him call;
I turned my back and left it all.
I could not stay another day,
To laugh, to love, to work or play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way;
I found that place at the close of day.
If my parting has left a void,
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared a laugh, a kiss;
Ah yes, these things, I too will miss.
Be not burdened with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life's been full, I savored much;
Good friends, good times, a loved ones touch.
Perhaps my time seems all to brief;
Don't lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your heart and share with me,
God wanted me now, He set me free.
Author: Linda Jo Jackson