Rest in peace, sweet cousin

Last Friday night, the 20th, my sweet older cousin passed away. She was 33.

That's why this past Friday night found me on a plane to Spokane with Dave to be there for her service yesterday. My wonderful husband decided we should fly, in spite of the outrageous expense. I am so happy we did, and that I was there. I knew it was going to be a hard day, but it was beyond what I expected. It was so sad, and so hard to remember how difficult Theresa's life was. It was great to have the opportunity to be with the family, and say goodbye to our first lost family member together.

Theresa had pretty severe mental and physical disabilities. She was mentally retarded and had some emotional problems as well. She always had some mobility problems, but in the past year and a half, she had to live without a hip. They botched her hip surgery three times - well, I'm not sure the hospital should be blamed, but the end result was that sweet girl had to live without a hip.

At the funeral yesterday, Theresa's family shared some special things about her, including how positive she was about life. When I think about her life, I think it was brutally hard - and how unfair it was that she had so many bad breaks. I think she knew how much everyone loved her though, and she was so full of love for everyone. In spite of all the bad things that had happened to her, she was so certain that everyone was good, and rejoiced in the little things. While she may not have been able to live life to same fullness that many of us get to, she was able to enjoy her world.

I hope her heaven is full of hugs, angels, and all things beautiful and delicious. She deserves it.