Last Saturday I attended a memorial lunch in honor of one of my dearest friends -- Karen Cummings. It was a tough day for me as I really hadn't fully grieved her passing (on June 2nd). As one of many friends who got up and spoke, the theme of my comments was that we had "had each others' backs" over the years.
About a week before she died, I happened to be with her at the hospital (along with her husband and our close friend, Mary), when she suffered both a heart attack and a stroke. One of the only things she could manage to say that night was "Don't leave me," which, of course, we didn't.
A couple of days later, she had recovered some of her speech and I had a few precious moments alone with her. She looked at me and said, "That was a rough night." I nodded...and she then said, "Thank you for having my back.". These were, in fact, the last words she ever spoke to me, and it gave me such peace that she knew I had been there for her.
After the lunch, I went outside to wait for Mary...and told her to take her time because I had brought a People magazine with me and just wanted to relax on my own for a few minutes. I sat down and opened to the cover story, which happened to be about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt....Imagine my surprise when I read the title of the article....in big bold letters it said, "We Have Each Others' Backs." WOW!
In that moment, I felt Karen's presence as surely as if she was sitting beside me. Thanks for the message, my friend! I've felt you around me over the past several weeks....and now I know for sure.
That is an amazing story, one where coincidence is must too trivial to explain the events. Love is what connects us, and what continues after we depart our earthly bodies. We can call it what we choose to, there is no argument about love, it is eternal. Thank you for the story, :)
Posted by: Kathie Johnson | July 27, 2010 at 10:35 AM