Death-A Fact Of Life..

   Back in the 80s and early 90s, while we were still living in the country outside Chattanooga, my Mom and Dad (alias Nana and Papa), built a home on our property so that we could look after them as needed.

   We watched them come and go and decided that a lot of their trips were to the hospital or funeral home. At their ages (Nana was 86 when she died in 1995, and Papa was 84 when he died in 1993), their friends were dying off as they watched.

   Now we are them. In our early 80s, we are in the same situation. That fact came immediately to mind when one of our long-time St. Simons friends passed away this week.

   Mary Hartford was 84 when she died this past Monday. We had visited her in Hospice three times over the past couple of weeks and watched as she went through her final days.

   Mary had stated for several years that "she wanted to go home". Home for her was Heaven, and she could see no reason for her to still be here on this earth. She had been diagnosed with a tumor two years ago and given 6 months to live. She was ready and wondered for all this "extra" time why she still was alive and functioning down here.

   When Mary's daughter, Dottie and family, build a new home, they put a mother-in-law suite on the south side with a nice screened porch where she could sit and watch her garden and the birds that frequented the feeders there. Mayre and I spent many hours over the past few years, visiting, talking and watching from the chairs on that porch.

   Mary Hartford was a remarkable lady. Always smiling, funny and inspirational at the same time, great with kids and great to be around. She will be missed by all of us.

   It is just like the flowers that one of our kids sent to my wife on her birthday, they are also dying. They lasted 16 days in a watery vase and were beautiful, but now we find more petals on the table every morning.

   We also are beginning to realize just what Nana and Papa's lives were like at this age. Mary's funeral is this afternoon, and we will be there to pay our respects and remember this life that intertwined with ours after we moved to the Island back in '95.

   And we will look forward to seeing Mary again in Heaven, where the petals will still be on all the flowers.

   And we can laugh together again on her mansion porch up there.