Soaring away

Today was Lanita's funeral. Even though I hadn't known her all that well, I'm glad I went. There were about 18 of us from the support group, all in our pink shirts sitting together. The women of the Soroptimist Club, which she also belonged to, wore their shirts and sat together as well.

The church was packed. I heard that close to 500 people were ther. And the family -- all eight pews full -- all wore something pink, a blouse, a shirt, a tie. It was actually quite striking. Most everyone wore pink ribbons. And whenever I now hear Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance," I'll probably always have a tear for Lanita and a small prayer that her daughters take its message to heart.

At the gravesite, our group handed out the balloons the others had prepared the night before (I had to work, but it sounds like they had enough hands to make quick work of it). Her daughters released theirs first -- butterfly balloons on which they'd written "I love you, Mom" -- and then everyone else released theirs. Three hundred pink balloons and 41 white ones -- one for each year of her life -- were quickly picked up by the blustery prairie winds of the day to the north. I'm sure it was quite a site from the nearby highway. A few people cheered as the balloons cleared the treetops, and then we all watched silently until they were just specks in the blue clear sky.

There was a luncheon afterwards, and most of us from the group went. We sat together, of course, but that was also appearatnly Lanita's wish. And we felt pretty honored when we were told the family wanted us to get in the food line after them. It was nice they understood the group was like an extended family for her.

Otherwise, it was a quiet day, and time for it to end. Every day is a new beginning, she liked to say, so live life to its fullest.