"Thinking of You"

"Debbie, call me. I have some bad news." That is the email that I received this morning from a dear friend that I worked with at Marriott for many years. I immediately called her back, but she wasn't home...so I waited on pins and needles all day to find out what the bad news was. I knew it couldn't be good if she couldn't leave me a message. We finally touched base this afternoon, and she let me know that one of the women we worked with in the Courtyard Division of Marriott Corporation was killed alongside her husband in a tragic car accident last Friday in Frederick, MD. She was 55, no kids. We have exchanged Christmas cards since 1988, but haven't spoken directly for many years. This past spring, while cleaning a bunch of things out in my basement, I came across a box with a top that she had cross-stitched for me when I left Courtyard in 1994. It said, "Thinking of You." Today while thinking about her, that box came to mind, and I feared that in my cleaning frenzy last spring, I might have gotten rid of it... but happily, I did find it safe and sound in the basement. Last week, one of Bob's co-workers died of an aneurism...50 years old...just took his only daughter to Va Tech to start her first year of college. Bob had just talked to him the day before...a few days later Bob was attending his funeral. I know all of this is not a surprise to God, for He has numbered our days on this earth, but it still always gives me pause when someone dies...especially when it is so sudden. I don't have much more to say really, other than I am heavy hearted right now...and Mary, "I am THINKING of YOU."