stardate 12.2.2020

Say their names.

It has become a habit, in recent years to pause and take a breath and remember the people who are no longer here with us.  In years past I made a list of friends and family members who we’ve lost and shared it.  The names on the list, for reasons that hardly matter, were reserved to people who had attended our Christmas party.  I had set up name cards, or picture frames with their names at the party in years past to remember people that we miss.  Then I expanded it to include people that had passed that were significant to my friends that were attending the party, or people like my sister-out-law Ger who loved a party and certainly would have come to one of our Christmas parties, eventually.  This year- man, this year…

I know, intellectually, that as I get older there are going to be more funerals than weddings.  I know that.  I just struggle because there are so many.  Perhaps I am selfish, I have a hard time letting go, because I always want another Christmas party with them, another lunch, another phone call, or text message.  So maybe it is all about me.  But even so, I have a very real belief that it is important to share their stories, to talk about them.  If I tell stories about my mom at Christmas, and people remember her, or are cheered by my remembrance of her, it seems to dull the loss of not having her here.  When you see this year's names, I think you will understand why we need to dull the loss.

Love the people in your life, tell them you love them.  Remember them when they are gone. Most importantly, breathe and say their names.

Julia Beth Hankins

Betsy Hosley Kirk

Michael Paske

Jim Myles

Pam Barnett

Wylson Dainkau

Gary James

Becky Fox-Akens

Patrick Vaught

Jay Kopp

Chris Young

Karen Hylton

Ann Hankins

Stephanie Dunaway Forrest

Amanda Rohn

Chris Kinkade

Tara Stiner

Jane Rogers Meeks

Geraldine Black

Roy Casares

Mike Sutton

Courtney Owens Bond

Barry Hollis

James Swedberg

Donna Keyes

Cindy Stuart

Larry Roberts

Fred Kinkade

Dorothy Kinkade

Archie Horton

Alice Horton

Vera Sotelo

Danny Sotelo

Fausto Sotelo

Max Cook

Charles Eldon Cook