My Mother's Friend

I recently had the priviledge of saying good-bye to Shirley. Mrs. Ivey died this morning, my mom's girlfriend.She knew that death was near, so she began to call all of her friends to say "Good-bye". We have known that Shirley was in a no-win battle with cancer. What a beast that cancer is, and pancreatic cancer, the devil himself.
I think it was Monday(by now, you know that days of the week escape me!!), Mom,Dad and I went over to see Shirley. As she lay in her bed, much like the baby Jesus in a manger,she reached for us. Her breath was shallow, but there was a clearity in her eyes. Mom sat next to her and held her friend, tight. Laying her head on Shirley's chest, both of them kissing each other. Dad and I were sitting at the end of the bed, watching mom. I have seen my mom grieve over the loss of her daughter and her first grandson, now her dear friend is trying to tell my mom, that its all ok. Of course there were no words spoken. The silence of love between friends, I felt like I was witnessing something beautiful. Then my turn to sit, a minute. Her skin, so bruised and thin. I held her hand and stroked her arm, and she said to me " Bonnie you are so beautiful" like she was looking at an angel. Next she softly said " Bonnie, I know how you feel" and she was thinking about my broken heart. You see she had lost a young son also. We were mothers connected in grief. In her last moments she was thinking about my heart. I thought that when she said I was beautiful, that maybe she was letting the medication do the talking, and then when she was talking about our boys, I knew, that she was totally aware of all things around her. I wish that I had told her, to look for my Ward, when she went to heaven, but I did not, somehow I think she was letting me know, that she would be doing some "mothering" real soon, with our boys. It was one of the most precious blessings, that I will always cherish, saying "good-bye" to Shirley and seeing her so near the new journey that she is now on.