What's Up? Death of a friend and thoughts of the World

Last week a friend of mine died. I had known her since childhood. She was a bit older and I always got a kick that an older student would walk to school with me when we were headed in the same direction. She was a neighbour and we became friends when I was older. Her family remained in the neighbourhood when many moved out or in several times. She became a single mom raising two wonderful children. She was very excited about walking her daughter down the aisle and returning to work. She had been so excited about life in general throughout the time I had known her. She had such a bubbly personality and could talk non-stop. When her sister left a message on my phone to call her, I knew something was wrong so I called my friend and hearing the sound of her voice asking me to leave a message, I felt somewhat relieved. I don't know why. The same had occurred when I called my other friend and left a message two years ago and it was her daughter calling me back to tell me her mom had died. That funeral was difficult because initially the funeral was for family only. Friends may be considered family to those who befriend others but family has the final say when death occurs. At that time, the daughter called me the night before saying only I could come and not other people I wanted to invite because I knew she would have wanted them there. Of course I abided in her wishes which caused some mutual acquaintenances from my second career not to speak to me again because they thought I should have shared the funeral details. When someone dies, people mourn differently and whatever one thinks, I abide in the family's decision. She later said I had made her feel bad because I told her that many would have come. You see I was the only friend there and she had many many friends who would have wanted to come. I understand how they felt but I had to abide in the daughter's decision. I told the daughter not to feel bad about her decision. This time with this friend (am I running out of friends?) her son called me back and told me she didn't have much time. He wanted me to go to the hospital and of course I went, spending four hours there and ensuring she had the Sacrement of the Sick. You see she was a devout Catholic. The four hours there with her two children was painful as I watched them suffer. As I left the room to go home, she raised her arm. A final goodbye. She died the following morning. The funeral was beautiful, even a dog was at the cemetary and though it jarred me initially, she loved animals and would have been delighted as the dog barked once, a final goodbye from another friend's dog. I pondered and thought I would love an army of animals at my funeral. Why not? I don't know how the Priest felt about it. He was not a happy camper in general and I thought his sermon could have used an upgrade. It was obvious that he did not know my friend. In general the funeral was beautiful and if she was there, she loved it too. The celebration of her life was indeed a celebration. Driving home was peaceful and I was amazed that my car had actually managed the trip. Each day I start the car and can drive it is worthy of a celebration. My thoughts were that life is indeed short and unpredictable. Both of my friends died from cancer after battling it successfully the first time. I did not expect either to die. Both had a jest for life. They loved life and perhaps that is one thing we all had in common. As I drove home I though of how silly it is that there is so much strife in our world. Last night I shed a tear as I saw the devastation that the earth quakes have caused to Turkey and Syria. Of course we will help. This morning as the death rates mounted, I wished that Russia would use its resources not to try to invade and destroy Ukraine but to send its troops to aide the people who could really use the help. I thought how nice it could be if China instead of being confrontational for the Americans shooting down its spy baloon, sorry it wasn't us. Apparently our planes can't fly that high. Yup. We know exactly what you are doing China. You are not fooling anyone. How nice it would be if you could send your army to help free any survivors. North Korea, well, what can I say. It would be nice. These disasters will probably increase and hopefully it can bring us all closer together. Life is too short for all this infighting. We are one world, one planet and we are all connected. We can have such a beautiful life working united. Wake up world.