Dear Marcia~

Dear Marcia~
I know that you will never read this, but it's good therapy for my sad heart so I am doing it anyway. Today was a day that I never expected to come this soon. The day that wasn't supposed to happen for at least 20-30 more years. Today was your funeral. You would have loved it. Your flowers on the casket were absolutely gorgeous and the arrangements all around were numerous. The hall was full and so many people there to honor your life and legacy.
You would have been SO proud of your 3 men. They were sitting in the front row and from my view a few rows behind them, I could see a sight that would bring tears to your eyes-I know it did mine. Rhett and Scott were on either side of Ray, and the sight of all 3 sets of broad shoulders sitting there straight and tall, looking right ahead...they just looked so handsome Marcia, and I know you would have been proud.
Your grandkids all looked so nice-the boys in their suits, the girls all dressed up so nice and their hair all beautiful. You would have really been proud of them today too Marcia.
Ray was trying so hard last night and today, but I could tell he was just so overwhelmed. Nothing like seeing a tough Marine with tears in his eyes to rip out your heart strings.  The love he had for you Marcia was always so evident and yesterday and today were no exception. We know Ray isn't a hugger, and that poor guy got hugged so many times, but hopefully it helped his heart to see others missing you too. I swear everytime I look at him I cry~him without you just doesn't seem right. And Scott??? You should have see Scott...Mr Obstinate-Because-I-Can-Be was hugging! See the effect you have on people? Scott was HUGGING! One for the record books that's for sure! :) Claire was giving out 'huggies' because "God made me a good hugger, right Mommy?" but she wouldn't give Rhett one-he teases her...imagine that, right?
Pretty sure I cried more yesterday and today than I have in the last 6 months. I just can't believe you are really gone. It was just too fast, and my mind just can't fathom that the next time I go to Stout, or we have a family picnic you won't be there by Ray's side, laughing your distinct laugh and telling us that we need more vitamin something or other and that we need to stop doing this and that because it leads to such and such. I felt like I did get to say goodbye on Monday, but I didn't really. I didn't get to talk to you one more time and tell you how much you really meant to me and how much I am really going to miss you. I didn't get to ask you what Ray's favorite foods are or what kind of cookies he likes and how you made them so I can make them for him someday when he's really missing you. We didn't get to finish talking about all your ancestry work that you were doing for our family. We just didn't get to finish Marcia...I wasn't done with you yet!
But on the other hand, knowing you are where you are, I can't wish you back here. After reading Heaven Is For Real, sometimes I think about what Heaven must be like, and the beauty that is there-beauty beyond our wildest imaginations. But you don't have to imagine. You are THERE-you have seen Jesus and talked with Him and are walking on the streets of gold. I think about how beautiful some of the places on Earth are and how Heaven's beauty FAR surpasses anything we have seen here on Earth, and how you are experiencing that beauty and glorifying in His presence at THIS very moment and I can't wish you were back here.
I will miss you Marcia-so very much. I love you and I will "see you later"~