When the Wait is Over...

We didn't have bell rehearsal last week as we were going to be missing at least three people and it didn't seem worthwhile to get everyone else together with so many holes. Nancy called on Friday to give a Julie update. She had been moved to the hospice unit, was on morphine and oxygen and largely unresponsive. They were talking hours, days.

She died this morning.

While not unexpected, it's still not something you want to hear. She was one of the founding members of the bell choir. It defined her as much as she defined it. I only stood next to her for a few months but I could see how she was liked by so many. She was full of life. She loved her work and had so many stories about the kids she taught in her classes.

But now we'll be preparing for a funeral. It's a little frightening. I've been exceedingly lucky in life and have only been to one funeral. We anticipate we'll be ringing, but we'll have to see.

But for now, I prefer to remember her this way, at our 25th anniversary concert last year. She's next to me, second from the right.