Goodbye Mike

Monday night I went to the mortuary to say goodbye to my friend. I knew he wouldn't look like he did in life and he didn't, more like a statue that someone had made of him, a resemblance. But it did seem like he had the slightest hint of a smile. My friend was always quick with a smart remark and he looked like he might be thinking of one. So, I felt like he was there. People were talking and it seemed like he was being left out of the conversation, so after a while I got a chair and sat beside him. When I had been there a little while, suddenly I felt as if I had been enclosed in a little bubble of peace and calm, not what I was feeling before, and I thought it had come from him. As if maybe he was hanging around with us for a little while and now had that power to make us feel better.

Tuesday we shut down the office and we all went to the service. People talked about Mike and there was a movie with music and still pictures of him at all ages, alone and with family and friends, some that made us laugh, some that made us cry. Then we took him up to Santa Fe for a final ceremony with military honors.

Goodbye Mike, I'll see you later.