When my family moved across town, just before I entered fourth grade, I met Kae and we became the BEST of friends! She was petite, with dark hair and eyes. Kae was genuinely sweet, kind, unselfish -- just the nicest girl!! There was NONE of the drama in our relationship on which so many of our peers seemed to thrive. We were NEVER-EVER jealous of each other, but were truly THRILLED when the other achieved success and recognition!
Not until we were grown, and had lost touch with each other, did I fully understand that our friendship had been a RARE TREASURE.
Kae realized her childhood dream and became a nurse -- a career that must have been VERY hard on her little body. She had probably practiced for ten years or so, when she developed an illness that made it impossible for her to continue working. No one gave it a "label," but her symptoms seemed much like Parkinson's. In fact, the last time I saw Kae, she could only walk with the help of her husband and I was unable to understand her speech. We had to settle on communicating via emails. I can imagine that Kae must have struggled to type the few paragraphs she would send me. We always wrote of getting together for lunch and a visit when Kae would come to town to see family -- but, when her mom died, she no longer made the trip -- and we never got together to "do lunch" and enjoy a time of catching-up with each others' lives.
And, now she is gone. Her funeral service is scheduled for Thursday and I will be taking off work to attend. The thought of seeing her lying in her casket brings instant tears to my eyes, but I do believe that Kae trusted in Christ as her Savior, so for her to be "absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." That comforts my heart.
Here is a condolence card that I made tonight. I will mail it to Kae's husband, Mike, tomorrow.
