...and life goes on....

...I just spent five days in Delaware grieving with Dave's family.

It was a compassionate time of hugs and love as everyone gathered together to pay their final respects.

Old pictures were brought out and stories from the past were revisited. We carefully placed these photos inside of streams of ribbons that were placed on tag board and bordered with greenery. These were exhibited on easels in the church's lobby for sharing with all who's lives had been touched by Kaye.

I was speechless as several hundred people stood in line for several hours for the viewing. This was my first experience with an open casket... and, it was pretty overwhelming. She did look calmly beautiful and peaceful as the family surrounded her with their love..

Kaye taught signing at a school for the deaf for 23 years, so many of her students were in attendance at her funeral. It was mesmerizing to me as I watched many of them signing to each other...almost like watching a graceful dance as they expressed themselves with hand gestures and signals. Communication can take many forms...and, to me, signing is a beautiful form of relating.

Many times when "hearing-abled" people talk with each other we allow distractions to affect our attention to each other. However, when a person is signing, they are completely focused on the other person and as they give them full respect and concentration. We could learn a lot from that...

At the funeral service Dave decided to represent the family as he went to the church podium to speak. As he spoke eloquently about his sister I felt such pride in being a part of his life. At the end of his talk, he quoted the words from a Beatle's song that I found so appropriate in describing Kaye's life: "...and, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make..."

Gazing around at the variety of faces in the packed church; family, friends, teachers, students, the cafeteria ladies as well as the school janitor.... it was obvious to me that she had given a lot of love in her shortened lifetime...

Rest in Peace, Kaye.