On the eve of Elsa's funeral......

Tomorrow, a week exactly after the death of my dear friend Elsa, we will gather in her church and celebrate her life.

Pixabay
Feelings are so mixed.
The bright swirl of her bubbly personality and all the gorgeous laughs we shared, especially as we often struggled to get a tricky sequence of dance steps polished, are beautiful against the backdrop of her (and my) every day life. colours like beige, sand, coffee and mustard.

The reality of life is that it is mostly beige....... 'ordinary'....... and I have purposefully learned to enjoy putting that load of washing into the automatic machine........unpacking the dishwasher of its load of shining crockery.......... ironing that favourite blouse to wear later.......taking out the lamb chops to defrost for supper and taking the bacon out of the fridge to fry up with a couple of golden eyed eggs to make a delicious brunch for my husband and me after scrubbing that veranda.

Truth is that Elsa will never perform these basic tasks ever again.

She will never walk through the door of our dance studio on Thursday mornings with her cheery 'hi' and 'you'll never guess the problem I had in trying to leave the house this time!' and some hilarious tale will be told about the neighbour's cat being trapped up a tree by her big Labrador.

So I'm appreciating the basic rhythm of my life being lived doing the basic everyday tasks and feeling a sense of deep satisfaction when I pour that creamy custard into its pie shell and sprinkle the aromatic cinnamon over its pale yellow surface knowing how my grandchildren are going to devour it and claim 'Nana is the best'.

My heart is with her two grandchildren who recently danced for their grandparents in an impromptu concert and with their singing brought tears pouring down her husband's face. "Koos cried a river," she told us. They will miss her..........no more pictures in the album as they grow up without her. Grandpa will struggle to take them fishing as he has aged horribly and is wondering at this moment how he can go on without her.

We can marvel about the miracle of her going, doing something that she loved with people who loved her and with whom she felt remarkably at ease but the stark fact is that she is gone. She is not with us to enjoy the fact that no long illness awaits her, years perhaps spent as an invalid or being lonely if Koos her husband of 50 years had gone before her.

At high school we repeated a prayer that mystified me as a girl champing at the bit to live my life but which made complete sense once I had my two children and a busy household.......

"The day returns O Lord and brings us the petty round of irritating concerns and duties.........."
No glamour there but oh I came to appreciate and enjoy sorting those school socks............putting a special treat and little note in their lunch boxes.......... trying to sort out a homework problem............ all gone now, water under the bridge as those small girls sort out their own children as best they can.

The prayer goes on to appeal for help from the Almighty ..............."help us to play the 'man', help us to perform them with laughter and kind faces, and bring us in the end
THE GIFT OF SLEEP."

You must have prayed that over and over Elsa because that is a reflection of who you were, dutiful, always erupting with laughter, kindness personified and yes, in the end beautiful friend you have earned your eternal sleep.

You life showed us all how a life should be lived Elsa,
I salute you and tomorrow there will be tears but oh the fond reminiscences will heavily outweigh our sadness as we CELEBRATE YOUR LIFE WELL LIVED.

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