I waited a day to write this because I wanted to have some time to process.  We went to the funeral home tonight to say goodbye to my friend Tammy.  It was harder than I thought because I thought I had let her down.  A couple of months ago, I had sent her a card saying we should have lunch.  She called and said she had a cold and that we could have a lunch in  a couple of weeks.  I waited too long to call her, and by then it was too late and I never saw her again.
I have been sending her cards for months, ok maybe years, because she’s had brain cancer for so long.  As I waited to speak with her son, I couldn’t help but wish I had made that telephone call sooner.  When I reached him he grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go.  I told him I felt so badly that I missed the chance to have lunch with her and he said it didn’t matter.  He said my cards meant the world to her and that as they got each one, someone in the family would show them to her and read them to her.  I always wrote more than a few lines because I wanted her to know that I was thinking about her and remind her of things we had done or something that reminded me of her.

When I got to her sister (who also worked with me at the bank), we asked how she was holding up and she said “Good until I saw you.”  Then she told me about the cards I had sent and how beautiful they were and how much Tammy loved them.

I guess my message is that we need to remind our friends and family how much they mean to us because life is short.  I’ll be making more cards for them, and this time, they will be sympathy cards.  Take the time to tell them before you need to write sympathy notes.  You’ll be glad you did.

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