Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Three words ... one life ...

Today we gathered as a community of family and friends to say our farewells to Maureen ... as people entered the church they were invited to pick up a river stone with the words Live, Laugh and Love written on them.

Each rock had those three simple words ... Words that Maureen lived her life by ... Words Maureen valued and celebrated with every breath ... Words she shared with everyone she met.

As the service ended people left the church with small stones and tiny plastic lady bugs held tightly in their hands ... a token of remembrance for a life that ended too soon ...

What struck me though, was the simple fact that Maureen's life was very much like those stones we held in our hands ...

Maureen's life was like a stone tossed into a pond ... from the place where the stone landed in the water, ripples moved outward, and today we began to realize just where those ripples have gone ... There are countless lives that have been touched by this delightfully outrageous woman ... through her involvement in a variety of groups (not least of which was the Red Hatters), she touched lives all over the community ... through her friendships she has touched lives all over Western Manitoba ... and through her willingness to help just about anyone, she has touched lives in places we can't even begin to imagine ...

Like a tiny rock tossed into the water of a pond ... the ripples of Maureen's life have flowed outward to places that today are grieving her passing, but also giving thanks that she passed this way at all ...

I hope when my time comes, my life will be viewed in such a way ... if it is, it will be a life well lived.

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