Procession

Yesterday I sat at a stop light for longer than the light. A funeral procession was going through the intersection. Seeing anything that has to do with death right now has a different meaning than it did to me before. I thought of the pain the family must be going through. No matter the reason a person passes, I assume it is difficult to someone. In the time it took the procession to pass by I had a moment to turn off my radio, have thoughts run through my head and answer my son’s questions about the reason everyone stops as a funeral motorcade passes.

As quickly as that time passed, it was over. The fact that it was quick made such an impact on me. It affected me because I thought of that family. For the family and those very close to that person, it isn’t over. It has just begun. With tears streaming down my face, I drove down the road thinking of what life really means. Of how quickly life passes by and in wonderment of just how swiftly the world forgets that you were here.

It brought to my thoughts my mom, of course. I thought of what an influence she was on our family. She never spoke publicly. She wasn’t on television or radio. She didn’t impact everyone in the world. But she made such a difference to us. I called to mind a quote on a card I gave her once. She loved it and said she found it very true. The quote was, “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world”.

So she was.