A tribute to a friend

Mixtures of joy and sorrow

I daily do pass through

That old hymm just came to the front of my brain…it’s so true, so true.

I got an email from greg’s uncle a week ago Sunday, telling me that Liz, greg’s mom, had had two strokes within a week, was paralized, and given 3 or 4 days.  Greg’s the olllld bf from when i was just a teenager that came crashing back into my life a couple of years or so ago, then dumped me again.  That’s just a little background– his mom was an awesome woman who raised four young kids by herself after her husband died at an early age (around 35).  When i met her, she was running an aluminum siding company with one hand and daring her nearly grown kids to cross her with the other (and they DIDN’T cross her– it wasn’t good to get in trouble or go against Mama Liz’s rules!).

I was 17, in my majorly rebellious days,  and had just moved out of my parents’ house.  I had no job, no money, was bunking with a friend of mine in a two room apartment.  Liz hired me in the phone room, so i could call all of you folks out of the phone book and ask you if you’d ever thought about siding for your home (yeah…i know, don’t lynch me…a girl has to make a living somehow!!).

Liz took me under her wing.  Yeah, we met because i was dating her son…but Liz and i bonded.  Her, with her girlish laughter and me, kinda lost, made each other laugh.  Oddly enough, the couple of years of so that greg and i were together, off and on, it didn’t matter if we weren’t seeing each other.  I’d grown close to her other son and youngest daughter, too, and was just "part of the family".  If i didn’t show up at her house sometime during the evening, she wanted to know where i was.

When i saw her a couple of years ago, she told me that she’d always thought– and hoped–  i’d end up being her DIL.  I considered that a great compliment.

Liz lost the fight on Wed morning, with her two sons and her brother by her side.  God bless her family and loved ones…she touched so many lives!!

And God bless you, Liz.  You’ll never be forgotten.  And i feel secure that you’re in a place free of pain…where the Bible tells us "we’ll all be satisfied".