We were back in Tupelo last Saturday, helping our dear friends, Dan and Frances Brasfield, celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. And this Friday, August 8, Robin and I will celebrate 56 years together. Doesn’t seem possible! Those are a lot of years to hang with one fellow! : )
Life is strange, though. Sometimes our saddest times are mixed right in with our happiest times. This weekend we’ll be bidding farewell to two other dear friends– Sherry Barefield and Dottie Montgomery.
In 1956, Sherry and I graduated together from Byrd High School in Shreveport, Louisiana. Later, during the 1960s, Sherry and her husband, Woodie, and Robin and I all attended the same little neighborhood church, John Calvin Presbyterian Church. The four of us and our young children were active members there. However, Robin and I moved to Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1971, and we didn’t see the Barefields again until we moved to Hot Springs Village in 2003.
One day soon after we arrived, Robin was playing golf with a new group, and the guys had played several holes before Robin and Woodie even recognized one another. They were talking about once living in Shreveport, and Woodie said, “Yeah, and you went to John Calvin Presbyterian Church!” They both laughed, and that was the beginning of eleven more years of great times together.
Several months ago, Sherry discovered she had ovarian cancer, and she slipped away from us on July 17. Her memorial service will be at Presbyterian Kirk in the Pines this Saturday morning on August 9, and we will be there with all her friends to say “farewell” but to also celebrate her life.
My other dear friend is Dottie Montgomery who will be leaving, too, but who is moving to be closer to her family. Dottie has been my “role model” at the Kirk—actively serving others well into her eighties, singing in the choir, and sharing her time and talents with so many in our church and community. Our congregation will honor her with a special cake during the coffee hour after the worship service this Sunday, August 10.
So celebrations and farewells– all mixed together this weekend. Tonight I am thankful for many happy memories.
Many congratulations to you and Robin. Bless you, also, for your recollections of special connections with Sherry and Dottie. All of us will miss them, but you have even more reasons than I had realized. My hope is your other friends will help fill the holes in your life left by these dear souls.
Blessings, Martha
Thank you, Martha. I am definitely thankful for your friendship!
Love you,
Maddie
I enjoyed reading your entry. 😉 What a blessing to have “two-time” friends!
Yes, it’s been a wonderful blessing! Thank you for inspiring me to write this blog. Your earlier comment about the “juxtaposition of celebrations and farewells this coming weekend” was very insightful. : ) We hope you and Marty enjoy your celebration this weekend too.
Love you, Maddie
Maddie, I am just now getting around to catching up on last week’s email, and I was very touched by this new posting! As always, you do a superb job of saying just the right thing, but it is especially close to my heart because it brings all of us even closer together with ties that bind! What a blessing it has been for us to be part of the Kirk and get to be a part of the lives of our wonderful friends. Even though we didn’t know each other until we moved to the Village, our lives had taken similar paths in that we had all married in 1958, even though my first marriage ended in divorce. We all had three children and a lot of the same basic beliefs, even though I was Baptist at that time. I’m thankful for my Baptist upbringing and the things they taught me, but I was also quite relieved when I got to the Presbyterian Church where they declared our sins were forgiven if we asked for forgiveness. It seemed to me that the Baptists didn’t give (at least to me) that assurance, because I always felt guilty about something! Anyway, I know you didn’t intend to get in on that much of my history, but I do appreciate our friendship and thank you and Robin for all you do all the time. Love you both, Yvonne
Yvonne, we both lost a very special friend. Sherry always went out of her way to help others, and she cared about us deeply. We will miss her! However, we can remember all the happy times we shared– the “group” birthdays, anniversaries, our cruise to Panama, the Southern “soul-food” suppers! Robin and I look forward to many more happy times with you and Wendell and with Woodie. We love all of you so much!
Maddie