Funeral =(

Today I attended a funeral of a friend who I was not really at all that close too. She was more of a friend by association. She was my close friend’s/ neighbor’s sister-in-law.

When I first moved into the Flatbush area, my brother would come over for Shabbos, and we would make it a point to hang out with our friends; a lot of the time she would be there. I actually liked it when she was there because she had a very unique personality; she was very sarcastic and playfully a little bitter, but in a funny way. After a few times that we hung out, she was diagnosed with cancer. That’s when I saw less and less of her as the months went by. We would get updates from her sister. Sometimes she was doing very badly, other times she was doing much better. Just a few months ago, we received the news that she was making a lot of progress, and was doing very well. I was wondering when I’d see her next.

Just this week, I got news that she was back in the hospital, and that she was not at all well. Last night a friend called my brother telling him that she may not make it through the night. For some reason I didn’t really believe the news. I mean it did hit me, but after a little while I assured myself for some reason that she would make it. This morning as I got into work, I received a phone call from my brother that her funeral would be today. The news hit me really hard. I was actually tearing up as soon as I hung up the phone. I was tearing up even more at the actual funeral, as I heard the whimpers of her sisters and her mother, as her body was being lowered into the ground.

I don’t know why I was saddened as much as I was. I wasn’t even close to her. Maybe it’s the fact that she was so young, and had so much promise. It’s also just horrible to see any family mourn the loss of a loved one. When things like this happen, it really gets you thinking and puts a lot of things into perspective. I guess death is what makes life so important (I heard that on tv somewhere).