It certainly has been a difficult
time for the communities of Park Tudor and Lawrence Township. Please remember to keep both communities in
your prayers as they deal with the trying times. Death of friends, family members, and people
that have special meaning in our lives is difficult.
The loss of someone special often
times leaves a feeling of sadness, or what we perceive to be a void in our
life. We wonder how things are going to
be the same without them, or wonder what we are to do now. A special tradition, the weekly calendar
event you had planned, are now void of this special person. What are we to do now?
When my father lost his wife, my
mother, he lost the love of his life, his companion, and his bridge
partner. I truly thought he would never
play the game of bridge, a game he was very good at, and loved almost as much
as he loved my mother. How was dad going
to fill his life? The way my father
coped with the loss of his wife, was a true inspiration and great lesson for
me.
You see, my father, through much
grief and prayer, decided to honor my mother and continue to play bridge, even
without his life-long bridge partner. My
father took time to teach his siblings, my mother’s siblings, his nieces and
nephews, how to play this challenging game.
Not only that, but he chose my mother’s aunt, who lived in a nursing
home, as his new bridge partner. He played bridge with my aunt Mary, every
Tuesday evening, every week, for many years.
My father chose to honor my mother,
an elementary teacher, by becoming a teacher and teaching what he knew so
well. He chose to continue to share his
love for my mother, by continuing to take an active role in her family and
doing what my mother would do, if she were still with us. What he did not know is, that by his actions,
he has taught me to cope with a loss, by remembering and honoring my mother in
such a special way.
I ask that you keep the communities
of Park Tudor and Lawrence Township in your prayers. Pray for those who are affected by the loss
of Susan Jordan and Matthew Miller. Pray
that God give them the strength to deal with the loss, and that He give those
grieving the wisdom to remember both of them in that special way. Pray that God give them ideas to honor them
and fill the void left behind. Park
Tudor and Lawrence Township, you are in my prayers.
