Thursday, July 31, 2014

In Northern Virginia for a funeral for a friend

An old friend from my political days died last week, and the family asked me to have the funeral. I would have come anyway.

This isn't just about my friend -- call her L --who was one of a bunch of great people I came to know and love while working here in politics in the 90s; her longtime friend and companion was and is a mentor to many of us; come to think of it, she was a mother to a lot of the folks too.

Today here daughter in law and grandson met me at Dulles airport. Her son (who I've known for about 20 years) and I were talking and visiting this afternoon. Our friend, H, who cared for L as her health declined, also came by. We had a great visit, like old times...except L wasn't at his side.

This isn't something I'd often do. It something I might easily have been unable to do. But while I now wish I'd done more for L before she died, this is something I had to do.

Pray for L, who happily had the blessing of Last Rites to send her off; pray for the family and friends who are very sad.

4 comments:

Jennifer said...

I will pray for L and her family and friends.

ndspinelli said...

I always pray for the living, believing the dead are w/ the Good Lord. Just said one. Safe travels, and I'm sorry for your loss. It must be tough do a funeral mass for a friend.

Fr Martin Fox said...

Jennifer, Ndspinelli:

Thank you for the prayers.

It is tough to do a funeral for a friend, but it might not be what you think: the hardest part was that I was aware of so much going on for so many people there, and how could I find words that were right?

You might well say, but isn't that always true? It probably is-- but most of the time, I don't know about it all. This time, I did.

Deacon David Oatney said...

I will pray for L, and H, and their family. God Bless them.