Candles

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

You probably don’t know her.

For that matter, I cannot say I knew her. I did meet her, spoke to her for a good 45 minutes at her home. Spoke to her twice on the phone.

The first was when she asked me to come to her house.

The second was asking me to come to her house, when she was not there and see who was breaking into her house when she was at the doctor.

When I went to her house, which was orderly and clean, we talked. She spoke of many things and how she loved my children. She knew my children, she told me, through the things I wrote about them in my newspaper column.

She spoke of relatives, neighbors and the woman which came a few times a week to help her do things. Some minor problems were brought up.

Being the kinda person I am, I checked on some of her problems.

Turned out it was impossible. Well, not impossible. But some of the things she complained about did not exist any more. They existed years ago.

That just confirmed she was confused. I suspected as much when I spoke with her. Not mentally unbalanced or crazy, just confused. At 88 years old, suffering a variety of ailments which came with advanced age, she certainly had the right to live her days in the past if she chose.

Her name, well if I told you and you knew her, then you might have a bit more information. If you did not know her, then having a name would not matter at all.

Yes, I use past tense. She died earlier this week.

She shuffled off this mortal coil, ending her time in this world of pain, hurt and sorrow for whatever comes next. I have beliefs about that, which you should know if you read my stuff. I am certain she shared the same belief.

As with so many other people who have breezed into my life and breezed right back out, I wonder.

Who will remember her in this life? Children? Certainly. Grandchildren? I suspect so, especially those old enough. Other relatives? No doubt. Friends? For sure.

But for how long? When will she become nothing more than a footnote in someone’s family genealogy report? A branch on a family tree?

How about you? How far back can you remember? I do not remember my great-grandparents, but I remember what others who did know them have said. Going back further, it becomes just a list of names.

I will not tell you that this lady I speak of illuminated my life to a great degree. She was a candle.

Under the right circumstances, a candle is much. Rather than curse the darkness, light a candle.

That same candle on a sunny day is invisible unless you are close enough to see it.

I was close enough to see her candle, small, frail, fluttering, sparking and nearly at the end of the wick and wax, but I saw it.