It was a good, but bittersweet 24 hours

Yesterday we said goodbye to a friend with her funeral service via Zoom. Strange times we live in. Polly wasn't a close friend, but she was a friend to everyone. Sweetest person you'd ever know. Very active in our church and school (where our kids attended together), and always volunteering for numerous activities. Polly passed away this week at age 65--she had suffered Parkinson's for years, and caught Covid along with her husband, and couldn't shake it. She was already predisposed to pneumonia, as I understand it, and got pneumonia and passed.

Her funeral was filled with stories of things she did, some I knew, others I didn't, and I heard one I had never heard, and had to share. You'll see why in a minute.

One of her sons brought home a friend from school one day and the boy spent several hours there. By the time they left, Polly (after feeding him, of course, and visiting with him) told him if he ever needed anything, to let her know. She always said that. Seems silly to say that to a child--must've been around 8th grade then.

Fast forward years later. All the children are grown, and one night she hears a knock on her door. It's this schoolboy friend that she met one time at her house. "Miss Polly," he says. "I need a place to stay for the night."

Of course, Polly invites him in, along with another young man, this boy's friend. She cooks dinner for them, gives them a place to clean up and sleep, and the next morning (after she cooked them breakfast), the boy and his friend Danny say goodbye, and thanks. They were on their way from Baton Rouge to Atlanta so Danny could do another preaching engagement.

Apparently, "Danny" was "Danny Wuerffel." Poor Polly didn't know sports, that wasn't her thing, so it didn't mean anything to her to have the former Heisman winner -brief pro player-turned preacher in her home. She just knew it was somebody that needed something, and she could help.

To George, her husband, and her 5 kids--heaven surely has another angel this week in your wife and mother.

***
Yesterday also happened to be the 65th wedding anniversary of my mother-in-law and father-in-law. Some may know, but we had a recent scare with them. My nephew/their grandson, sweet young man as he can be, went over a couple of weeks ago to put together a set of recliners all of "the kids" gave MIL/FIL for Christmas. He's been very careful (just as Bigsky said in another thread, there's no value judgments placed on catching Covid, and it can literally happen to any of us), and wore a mask. Of course, you know where I'm going with this. This 19-year old Notre Dame freshman, who managed to avoid Covid during the Fall semester at Notre Dame when so many students caught it, tested positive for Covid the very next day. Tough, competitive athlete (not in college, but throughout his life), and basically had flu-type symptoms that lasted about 10 days, but got better.

And we crossed our fingers and held our breath for MIL/FIL. MIL especially has lung issues and with her age, well, we were just hoping and praying.

And with their 65th anniversary yesterday, more than 14 days have passed since nephew/their grandson was there, and they are perfectly fine. My wife, who speaks to her mom almost every day with a 5-minute phone call was so relieved. So am I. I'm not sure that MIL will see another Christmas anyway, though. Her health is not good, but she'll be with us awhile longer. I hope a lot longer.

***

This morning at 5 a.m. I helped pack the last couple of boxes into my son's car as he headed back to school. He goes to a small school not far, but out of state, and plays a sport there with little chance of "job" benefits later, and if they have 150 people in attendance at a game, it's a big crowd. But he was in his car at 5 a.m. because coach called a meeting last night for 9 a.m. this morning (which is when he was planning to leave).

We had a good long Christmas break that began at Thanksgiving, and enjoyed spending time with him, even managing to hit the golf course a couple of times. His 21-year old sister is in her final semester of college in another school and she began her "Jan Term" Monday, so she was already gone. The house is a lot quieter now. It's the way it's supposed to be, and there's a peace I'm feeling from the kids doing what they're supposed to be doing, but I'll also miss the "noise" around the house, too.

It's been a heckuva 24 hours, but a good one.