For those that don't know, we lost our Donna last night. She was my husband's older sister, only 57 years old. She had been so sick for so long. I'm supposed to be comforted by the fact that she is no longer suffering, but so far it still feels like the line from our beloved Les Mis, "there's a grief that can't be spoken; there's a pain goes on and on."
Donna didn't have children of her own, so our babies were her babies. They loved her so much and they knew that she loved them. Donna and Mary Margaret's birthdays were only a day apart so we often celebrated them together.
I do take comfort again from my sweet daughter. We knew all day yesterday that the end was near, but Ronnie and I agreed that Mark & Mary Margaret should carry on with their dress rehearsal last night. They had worked all summer for this project. I finally told Mary Margaret on the way home that her Aunt Donna was gone. Of course, all three of us grieved together. Then she pulled out her ipod and played this song:
"All those days watching from the windows
All those years outside looking in
All that time never even knowing
Just how blind I've been
Now I'm here, blinking in the starlight
Now I'm here, suddenly I see
Standing here, it's all so clear
I'm where I am meant to be
And at last I see the light
And it's like the fog has lifted
And at last I see the light
And it's like the sky is new
And it's warm and real and bright
And the world has somehow shifted
All at once everything looks different
Now that I see you."
If you only knew how fitting these words are; a secular song, but it screamed to me, "Peace, it's ok." We sobbed and tried to sing along. I had to even pull over for a moment and stop the car. I can't read the words now without crying. How does this little girl just know the right thing to do? She is full of grace, sweetness, and light. There is also greatness in her. Her Aunt Donna would be proud.
