...in a better place...

We say that someone is in a better place when they pass away...

Sara's memorial service was yesterday.  It was a simple ceremony held at a place where she used to work.  They said a few words about her, and then just opened up the mic for people to speak.  People told stories about her life and her smile and her love of animals and wine and sports... we laughed and cried, and let ourselves feel grateful for how our lives were touched by hers. 

I found the courage to approach the mic and tell the stories of how she and I met at work and used to run out to get sushi for lunch together.  How we became good friends.  How we lost touch for a while, and then reconnected a couple years ago and fell right back into our friendship.  I talked about the last two times I saw Sara.... once, giggling uncontrollably at the bar for my birthday... and, the last time, back at our favorite sushi restaurant for dinner and a catch-up session. 

Sara was so happy the last night I saw her.  We talked about the boy she'd brought to my birthday and how she was really excited about him.  I felt like she was finally in the kind of relationship she deserved -- one that was balanced and giving, and very unlike her last relationship.   While she was talking that night, I couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was, and how happy I was that she seemed to have found this moment where everything was falling into place.  She deserved that so much. 

In the last moments I was with Sara, she wanted to show me the tattoo she had just gotten.  She lifted her shirt and said, "Okay, this is kind of ghetto...but, I didn't have the right bandages so I taped a paper towel over it."  :)  We stood in the parking lot, giggling behind the sushi restaurant, and she showed me one of the most beautiful tattoos I'd ever seen. 

As she drove me home, she told me that she'd wanted to get the tattoo a few months ago, but her sister told her to wait until she was in a good place to get it so she wouldn't associate it with her last break-up.  She had just gotten it that weekend.  

Oh, Sara, I miss you so much already....