Casserole Ladies

My good friend passed away at the age of 88. She told me she was ready to go, had lived a good long life and now, just wanted to get on with it. She was ready to go home. My friend knew in her heart that she was going somewhere better and would be reunited with her loved ones, where she would wait with them, preparing to welcome those she had left behind. My friend was a woman of faith.

My friends passing sparked a scandal. She was a very active member of the community for all of her life, and gossip has it that the church auxiliary, the VFW auxiliary and the volunteer fireman's auxiliary are fighting over who gets the honor of feeding the crowd of people expected at the funeral. Meanwhile, the town had to call an emergency board meeting to approve funds for a county sheriff to direct traffic on Main street during the calling hours because of the expected influx of visitors to a one stoplight town. The final estimate was somewhere near 8,397 callers and just as many flowers. My friend was well known and loved in her community.

Casserole ladies have started arriving by the droves as we sort through boxes of photos, discuss which dress she looked best in, and pass a box of tissues. I have to ask myself – Am I living a life that will bring droves of casserole ladies to my doorstep after I pass? I hope so.

My friend believed in the Bible, she asked me if I had read it, I think she was surprised when I said yes, I had, twice. She said I should read the Bible more, there is lots of good stuff in there. Then she said she figured I was doing pretty good for someone who had only read the Bible twice. So Hey, I got that going for me.