A
Tribute To A Dear Friend
We who knew Marie, knew we had a friend indeed.
Marie found me. She called me on the phone one day
and introduced herself. She said,
"I heard
you need help finding work. I'll help you. I'll
introduce you to some people and you can work with
me for awhile. If you're as good as I am, I'll give
you some of my people."
We met and worked together
for a time and she helped me break out on my own.
We helped each other. We laughed, we visited each
other, went out to dinner together, played tough
games of scrabble into the wee hours, and remained
good friends. Marie was and is an Angel. You couldn't
get out of her house until she gave you something
to eat and drink. She worked hard, and she loved
it and because she did such beautiful work it was
always something to be proud of. She had the patience
of a saint! If it didn't come out perfect, she'd
start all over again until it was the way she wanted
it to look. I marveled at her tenacity. Marie could
handle anything! She could always solve problems
and give helpful hints when needed. She was a person
who took pride in everything and it showed. She
worked side by side with her husband time and again,
and Dave took pride in her work with her. They were
a good team. They knew how to work and how to play.
They enjoyed life.
There was much love in Marie's heart for everyone
and everything. She called me over to the house
one day to see the 'scrawny sick stray cat'
that she fixed a warm bed for. She laughed heartily
as she described how it ate and drank the milk nonstop
and the more she fed it the more it ate. Soon she
called to tell me how fat it was getting and hopefully
now that it was well it could leave anytime. The
next call was, "You'll
never guess what happened! We got a bunch of cute
little baby kittens! Do you want some?"
Marie
told it the way it is. There was no beating around
the bush.
In 1994, my father's lingering illness kept me busy
and at home. I didn't get to see much of her and
Dave. In 1995, after my father's passing, I was
busy disposing of his properties and tending to
his affairs, and again Marie and Dave and I would
talk on the phone or run into each other on occasion.
I married, and Marie become ill, but that
didn't stop her. She continued on with living and
enjoying. When she and I had some spare moments,
we talked about illness and death. She did not want
to burden anyone, nor did she want to suffer. She
always told me she wanted to go quickly and with
a smile.
I told her that I believe in
Life after Life and she said she'd have to see
it to believe it.
We
laughed heartily about that one. Then
I
told her that if she found out that I was right,
I expected her to
come back and tell me
about
it. She said,
"You
mean like, HAUNT YOU?" "No Marie",
I said rather calmly. "Like tell me. Come
and tell me about how beautiful it is there."
Marie laughingly retorted, "Yeah, right.
Well, I 'm not ready to go yet, so how about if
we get together and play some scrabble?"
The last time I talked to Marie, she called to ask
if she could borrow a dress to wear to
her
daughter's wedding.
She said, "I know you gained some weight
since you got married, but so did I, and maybe your
dress will fit me." I told her that mine
was a bride dress, not a mother of the bride dress
and she shouldn't outshine the bride, so she said
she would try something else. I asked when we could
get together and she told me we'd have to wait until
they got back from her daughter's wedding. She was
so proud of all her children and grandchildren and
her family! She told me her
voice was getting scratchy so
I should talk to
Dave and make plans to go out when they got back.
Dave and I talked, and we made the plans that he
would call us when they got back and we'd go to
our favorite place that they introduced me to a
few years back. We would go to Marie's kitchen for
spaghetti. I agreed.
Time passed as I waited for the call. Maybe they
decided to stay on a while longer and I'll hear
from them later. More time passed. My husband and
I stopped by the house and finding no one home,
I wrote a note and placed it in the notepad holder
outside the entry door. Several times, I stopped
on the way to run an errand, and found the door
open, but no one answered my knocks and bell ringing,
so I thought they might be visiting somewhere in
the neighborhood. I left my business card in the
door and on the note holder. Still, there was no
response.
Time marched on. One Monday evening, some friends
came over and we were Meditating.
I had forgotten to turn off the phones,
and the urgency
to answer it was strong. My
husband and I both went into the kitchen and he
picked it up. It was Rose.
"Tell
Rene our best friend Marie died."
I
took the phone in disbelief. "Rose, what
happened?" I blurted. Rose could
hardly speak. She told me it happened Friday and
that Dave was in Pennsylvania at the daughter's
house. I took down the number and told Rose I'd
get back to her later as I had to go back to my
prayer group. I asked the group to pray for my girlfriend,
Marie who just passed away Friday. It became very
silent as the prayers were mentally sent out. During
the Meditation Prayer, I asked Marie to come and
talk to me. When
I felt her presence very
strongly, I asked, "Marie, what happened?"
The
thought of the Cancer crossed my mind. She
answered, "It
happened so fast that I didn't even know myself;
Ren, but it
wasn't from what you think. Call Dave."
I
almost cried then and there wondering that if it
wasn't that, then what was it?" Marie answered
again. "It wasn't the Cancer. It was my
heart.
Call
Dave."
