2 1/2 funerals

This week has not been a good one. Two members of our staff have lost love ones this past week. Neither one expected, but neither one was in excellent health. We had a funeral two days in a row. A segment of the office was at each, I was at both since I am closer to the two individuals. Both funerals were nice and more of a homecoming than a morning. Over the last two days I have spend over 5 hours in funerals. They were long. I came home on Saturday after missing a wedding because the funeral lasting three house and decided to go check on my neighbor who has been battling cancer to see if they needed anything from the store. I walked in and didn't recognize my neighbor ( who just a week ago was telling my other neighbor that when she felt better she would baby sit). She was laying in pain wth her eyes closed in pain. She could only make a couple of words out that she was in pain. The doctor came back with the test this weekend that the cancer has spread throughout her body. She's no longer eating and they've uped the morphine to try and stop the pain. Neighbors used to have block parties and know everyone on the block. I've never lived in that type of neighborhood, untill I bought this house. My neighbor the day I moved in brought over an angel food cake with strawberries and introduced herself and her husband. She was retired and her husband was a musician. They know everything about my house, I'm only the second owner of a 1947 house. She told me about the whole street who does what, who keeps their yard up, who is quiet. She is also the best alarm system any neighbor could have nothing happens at my house that wasn't reported to me once arriving home. We have spent hours on the front stoops of our houses discussing flowers, the weather, my latest case, my latest love, and she was always up to helping with my latest halloween costume idea from Marilyn Monroe to any other idea that I could come up with. I could barelly keep the tears back as I looked at her, the shell of where my friend had once been. Her husband took her to the bathroom as i went into the kitchen to compose myself determined not to break down. Not there, not then. Her husband is in autopilot. He is still as loving and caring as ever. I stayed for about thirty minutes talking to her but not knowing if she heard anything I said. I left the house to walk back across the street to my home. I didn't hit the street before tears flowed down my face. My heart hurts.
Janet