Memories

I got a box in the mail today. It is from my best friends husband, he called me yesterday and said he was sending me some mementoes that they had picked out that they thought I would want from Judy. I know the ball is in there. Did I ever tell you about the ball?

We sent this ball back and forth a million times since she moved to Minnesota. She got the idea from her daughter, she and her best friend had been sending one back and forth for years. It is called a friendship ball and it opens on a couple of hinges and you put small gifts inside.

It was so much fun keeping your eyes open for something that reminded you of your friend and would fit in the ball. Of course, eventually we had to send it in a bigger box to hold the things we couldn't fit in the ball. It was like having an extra Birthday or extra Christmas a couple of times a year.

When I first got to the house the night before the funeral, Judy's daughter showed it to me. ( I had asked her to check with her Dad to see if he would mind if I took it for a remembrance.) She told me to look inside, and of course there was something that only Judy would know meant the world to me.

Heather asked if she could keep it until after the service, and although I wondered why I said of course. Imagine my surprise when we got to the church the next day , at the front of the chapel sat a table where the kids had put out things from Judy's life that were important to her. And there, right next to a couple of pictures of the two of us, was the ball, along with a few other friendship items I had sent to Judy over the years. I cannot begin to tell you how that moved me. What beautiful, kind, loving children she raised, to take the time during their grief to remember and honor our friendship.

I have not opened the box yet, I just can't do it yet. Maybe tomorrow, I have time, that is one thing a have a lot of right now, time.