See Ya Later.......

Well, today I said goodbye to my dear friend Rhonda...we're all gonna miss her. It's so hard to believe that she really did die...I mean, we all gotta go someday, but I had always told her that I would go before she would. I felt like I was in worse shape than she was...she showed very little outward appearance that she had any problems...here I am, overweight, high BP, and lung issues, mostly chronic bronchitis. She on the other hand didn't complain of many ailments..mostly a achy back and swelling feet. It wasn't until that day when she got out of her car and picked something up that something in her back gave way...and it was all downhill from there...little did she know that cancer was ravaging her body at several points..she just thought she had twisted her back...so it just goes to show, you never know.
But one thing I do know...the Lord took care of her. She had almost no pain whatsoever. Even the doctors were amazed that she wasn't in agonizing pain. They kept bringing in pain medication to give her, and she would just turn it down because she didn't need it...the Lord was so merciful to her and spared her the pain she should have been in. For that alone, her family and us were so thankful. Towards the end she did have some...but she was able to handle most of it with very little help.
Her funeral was beautiful and touching. One of our vendors that we buy material from, was there. He had drove from Tallassee, AL. an almost 4hr drive. He knew Rhonda from when she worked for us at TJ'S, then later at K & C , then she ordered from them when she worked for Michael at the Georgia plant...His name is Archie, and he thought highly of her and even made the drive to see her when she was in the hospital. He wanted to go to the cemetary, so he rode with Tony and me out there. On the way, he asked us what was the name of the song they sung as they wheeled Rhonda's casket out the door after the funeral. After I told him the name he said "I've never heard that song, but I do believe that's the prettiest singing I've ever heard"..he proceeded to tell us that he'd been to Gaither homecomings, and had been to many gospel concerts, but he had never heard singing that beautiful before, and he loved that song. He even wants us to send him a copy so his church can learn it...I wanted to tell him that the reason the singing was so good was that it was sung from the hearts of people who loved the Lord with all their hearts and that He himself let His presence be felt thru the singing, cause He was there...I hope He will come to mine when it's my turn....
Well Rhonda, I'm kinda miffed cause you get to get Roger 1st for leaving us when he did...but I think i'm still gonna take a swing at him cause if I know you, you were so happy to see him that you couldn't punch him in the nose like we agreed to do...I just wished I had thought to tell you before you left so he'd be expecting it when I get there...LOL.... And I worried about telling you goodbye...didn't know how to do it...and I didn't have to..cause after I thought about it, I didn't want to. I don't want to say good-bye...how about.."see ya later".......

How Can I Help You Say Goodbye....

Rhonda Brown is my friend. She's been my friend for nearly 30 years now. I've known her longer than that, but we became friends after her and Roger married. I'd known Roger all my life, and Tony and I grieved with him when he lost his first wife and children. We were so happy for him when he and Rhonda married. He couldn't have found a better person to be his life partner...especially with the work the Lord had for him. She is a wonderful person. She loved Roger very much. After his passing, she was so lonesome and depressed. I have no idea the feeling of emptiness and longing she had in her heart for her husband who had left the walks of this life to enter into that land she had heard him preach about many, many times. She often spoke to me of how she couldn't wait to meet him again..and I told her that just as soon as I was sure that I was gonna get to walk thru the pearly gates, I was gonna walk up to him (Roger) and punch him in the nose for leaving us so soon...lol. She always smiles when I tell her that....she said if I got to go before her, to give him a punch for her too...LOL....
But, it looks like she's gonna make it home before I do...of course it might not happen that way...who knows what God's plan is...all I know is that she's laying in a hospital bed in my living room with very little time left. And that breaks my heart. She's told me many, many times that I was her best friend. Oh, I don't have a big head about that, i'm sure she's told many the same thing...she wasn't one to show a difference..lol..and at the time she would say that, I was the one she hung with the most...she made me feel like she needed my friendship...she would tell me that I made her laugh when she was sad, that I gave her hope when she couldn't find anything to hope for. But the truth is, she was good for me. Most times when I would be telling her my feelings, she would bring another side of the story into play for me to consider...and it usually helped me to realize that I might be wrong about something...I've had her tell me things that bothered her, but she always ended the conversation with "it's probably just me"...the past few years, we've not had nearly as many conversations as we used to....kinda drifted apart. Life has a way of consuming your time. We sold the business she worked at, so I didn't see her on a regular basis like I had been..She went to college to become an Accountant...I was busy with helping out with our business and at Cutie Petooties..She found a great friend in Sis Sissy...the two of them went many places together...both are single ladies and have a lot in common. It seemed that she was getting things together in her life. Although she got laid off from her job, her college work was almost completed and she would have been starting a new chapter in her life anyway...her and Sissy were almost inseparable, going to church and singings and shopping together...I even went with them a time or two on some occasions...and we had so much fun...
I remember when she lost her first baby. We cried together, as I had lost my first and knew how she felt. And how happy she was when she found out she was expecting again...and I remember the night she brought Tiffany home from the hospital..I spent the night with them, and Tiff slept in the bed with me so Rhonda could get a full nights rest..then the loss of another child before she had her last baby, Jordan. I remember going to their house after church and me, Rhonda and Roger would talk til late in the night, while Tony slept in the recliner cause he couldn't hear what we were saying due to his hearing loss.. we talked low so the kids wouldn't wake up..how they came to the house the night Tony's dad died, and begged us to stay with them so we wouldn't be alone...I could go on and on about the good ole days...
We said good-bye to Roger long ago..and now it looks like we will be doing the same with Rhonda in just a short time...how do you do that? I want so bad to tell her that we'll be seeing her again in a few days...that i'm sure Roger is just sitting on the banks of the river, writing in the sand, waiting on her to cross to the other side..he probably looks up every now and then to see if he can see her coming...I want to say good-bye, but how? She is slowly slipping away from us...getting closer and closer to the shoreline...I want to say good-bye, but the words are stuck inside my throat, yearning to be spoken. Not that I want this dramatic scene full of tears, and sobbing, but to try to convey to her a feeling of peace...peace that her children will be well seen to..that we'll make sure her grandchildren remember their "Nanny" with precious memories and pictures and stories of how much she loved them, and I have a few funny stories to tell them when they get older and can realize the humor in them....stories that still bring a smile and a small chuckle to me as I sit here thinking about them....I want to tell her how much she'll be missed, and how good of a person she was, never speaking against anyone, no matter how hurt she was from things that others had said....that i'm sure she'll have no "gate" trouble when she gets there...and that it's ok to go on to be with Roger, their babies, and her daddy, who she was still grieving for...how can I help you say good-bye Rhonda? I only wish I knew............