Two weeks ago…

My dear friend Iris passed away last evening.

I visited after the Ladies party and said I would phone after doing the Community Lunch prep before her bedtime. She said she was getting undressed for bed and hoping to sleep in her bed after awful nights in her chair. She was so weak. I said a prayer for sleep and said goodnight.

She wasn’t answering my calls this morning. She so wanted to keep her hair appointment and get to the lunch. Eventually a warden answered. I knew then.

She looked so peaceful, in her bed and tucked up. The paramedic said she’d probably died just after getting into bed. I called her third cousin who I’ve recently learned about and really enjoyed meeting, and we spent the next hours with Iris until it was time to call the funeral directors. They were so kind. We left the room while they moved her from her bed, ready to take her to the chapel of rest where Iris will rest.

Sam phoned Iris’s brother in Florida. Iris and he were in touch every day and of course he was upset.

I am so grateful to have had four great years with my dear friend. Also that there will now be a team of us to handle all that needs to be done in the weeks ahead.

Another potted journal to mark a difficult day.
Our choir concert went ahead and we sang for Iris. She’d said on Monday that she didn’t think she’d be able to sing her solo first verse of Silent Night….

And our dear sister Valerie would have been 70 today. I bought a birthday card to put by her photo. Just felt the need to do that.