A journey back.....

Today felt like a continuation of the last blog I wote - Legacy.  I returned to my college chapel for a Memorial Mass for a classmate... we started here years ago and now our journey ends here as well.  Our lives took very different roads... she married her college sweetheart, I didn't.  She moved halfway around the globe, I stayed close to my roots.  She studied one thing, but ended up working in another field.  I followed my passion all the way.

We reconnected off and on through the years... reunions mostly and recently we both were serving on our Alumni Board.   She spoke her mind - there was no doubt about what she was thinking yet was very private in other areas - like her sickness and suffering.  We shared stories of families, friends, and life.  Our work on the Board was a perfect fit and now I'm left to shoulder this area without her opinions.  I will miss my friend and classmate... Judy with a "y" as we used to joke.  I was Judi with an "i".  We signed our emails just that way J(i) or J(y) to the Board.

Life passes so quickly and what's left behind is our legacy - what others carry in their hearts and minds that tell our story.  J(y) has left a full and rich legacy with her family and friends, but also with her service to her community and College.

The chapel bells rang as her name was read and my own College memories swirled around me like the ghosts of the past that they are... days spent with friends (fellow sufferers in Math and Physics), exams studied for and prayed over in this very place (and sometimes cried over), friends made for life like the woman who sat next to me, dances and proms with themes and charms that I still cherish, trips to Bermuda with my girlfriends for College week and all our adventures on that island - now all happily part of my legacy.

That part of my life I can't change and maybe I don't want to because as I said in the last blog, those are things and people who came "in and out of my door" and made me who I am today.  What I can do, is build on that legacy with friends and family and devotion to others.  As we pass through this life, we can't come through unscathed or unhurt.   But can we forgive?  I'll let you answer that.

So my dear J(y), rest easy knowing that your job here on earth is complete... well done my friend, well done.

J(i)