One Sweet Lady

We have so many sweet elderly people in our Church! One of these dear people was a lady of 88 years. In the past before we came to Cayman she had cancer in her mouth and had surgery. You know the story that so many hear ~ "We think we got it all!" Probably three or four months ago, we learned that it was back. After many trips to see her doctor she and the family decided that she would have surgery again. As much as I loved my wonderful Mother, I don't think at 88 years of age I could possibly put her through that and the treatments that so often follow that surgery. But that was their decision! Our dear friend who was known to so many as Sister Veta came through the surgery and treatments to be progressing as well as one might expect. BUT then things went in the reverse direction and she progressively became more sick and weaker and weaker. Her time on this earth was slowly coming to an end. A little over two weeks ago, one of her daughters who come to our Church called to say the helper had just phoned to say that her Mother's breathing had changed. This was in the early hours of the morning and we weren't out of bed yet. Dennis jumped up, got ready and went to the family home. A little later in the morning went on he called and asked me to call the local grocery store to order some meat and fruit trays for the family. There are five girls and one son plus the husband who is almost 92 years old. Dennis wanted them to have some food there so they didn't have to worry about preparing anything major. About an hour after talking to him, he called me back to tell me our sweet Sister Veta went to Heaven where there's no more pain and suffering! I was happy for her but hurting for the family. This past Sunday afternoon was Sister Veta's funeral at our Church. The funeral service was to begin at 3:00 pm. SInce I had to play the piano for the service, I decided to go over and make some copies of songs a little after 2:00. When I went into the Sanctuary there were already several people there. As the minutes ticked on more and more people were coming in. Our Sanctuary holds about a little over 500 people! Well, it was one of the largest funerals that I've been to. Every pew was crowded except a few in the front. We had ushers setting people and they ended up putting chairs across the back of the Sanctuary and up the middle aisle!! Someone told me there were people even out in the Narthax of the Church. This lady was so loved by everyone who knew her. Though she has six children there are only 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. There were many beautiful bouquets of flowers as expression of love for Sister Veta! What a great example of a lady she was to everyone!! Some people have a way of making a big impression on you and Sister Veta was one of them!! We will sure miss her and her hearty laugh, but know she is not sick anymore and has a new body!!