Lost a Friend and Gained Two More…

We won't soon forgot the emotional roller-coaster of this Independence Day 
weekend!  We arrived at Point Lookout State Park in a town called Scotland, 
Maryland on Thursday  for the long holiday weekend. We were in awe of its 
beauty, with each campsite in virtual seclusion due to the abundance of trees 
and tall grass. The pier and beach were only a bike ride away from our 
campsite and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring both. Being on our bikes
again was a true emotional high, riding side by side as the wind blew in our
faces.

Then on Friday evening just as we were about to sit down to dinner, came
the emotional low point as I read the news on our church Facebook page 
of the death of our dear friend Suella. We knew she had suffered a massive 
stroke while on vacation and hadn't regained consciousness, but reading 
of her death was still shocking. I cried and cried as Tim held on to me. I had 
had the pleasure of serving several years ago with Suella as Co-Director of 
Worship during one year of my three year term and we had remained good 
friends. The last conversation I had with her three weeks ago now seems 
eerily profound. Before church started that day, Suella shared with me that 
she had recommended me to join the Laying of of Hands Ministry at church. 
She asked me if I knew that laying on of hands was my true calling and I 
agreed with her that it likely is one of my gifts. She went on to say that 
during our friendship and in her casual observation of my interaction with 
others, she witnessed my ability to "lift people out of their darkness and 
into the light". She made me promise to continue to do that and I assured 
her that I would. I created a LEGO version of a house of darkness and a 
house of light in honor of Suella. 



I woke up on Saturday morning still thinking about Suella and life at 
St. Mark's without her. Though I didn't feel much like celebrating, Tim 
and I began our Independence Day  by stopping at the Park's Camp 
Store, and as we passed two women in the parking lot,  one of them 
turned around and called out my name. I didn't immediately recognize her 
under a hat and with sunglasses so she said "it's Mary from St. Mark's!" 
Wow, really???  How amazing is that? Mary and her partner Deb and me 
and Tim hugged like old friends  and chatted away in the parking lot. 
They shared that they have always enjoyed watching me running around 
at church carrying out my verger duties. I had to laugh! 

We agreed to meet later on at the campground, so after an afternoon
rain shower we rode our bikes over to their campsite and had a great 
time getting to know each other. We invited them over to our place for 
wine, S'Mores and Scrabble after dinner, which as it turns out was a great 
idea, because just as they arrived it began to storm which can be challenging 
when you are tent camping. We had an absolute ball together sharing our 
life's stories and we stayed dry too, though due to the weather we did have to 
substitute our S'Mores for lemon cake. 

They also hadn't heard the news about Suella's death, and once we gave them 
the news we all shared some of our greatest memories with Suella. We also 
talked about how amazing  our meeting in a store parking lot was, given that 
we'd never actually had an opportunity during  the hustle and bustle of a Sunday 
morning to have a conversation at church. 



For me, last night once again clearly confirmed that our camper's name 
"Memory Maker" is truly  accurate. What are the odds that we'd lose one 
friend and gain two others on the same weekend, from one church? Pretty 
high I'd say, but I can guarantee that Suella was smiling down on me, Tim, 
Mary and Deb last night as we not only shared our great memories of her, 
but also made new memories of our own. A fabulous end to an emotional 
weekend. We will miss you Suella. Rest in peace knowing that we will 
continue the work we've been given to do. 

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