I have no doubt that whoever reads this article will relate at some point to losing a good friend, a longtime friend, someone you will always remember, and someone who loved their faith, they believed in God.
Patricia was her name, and we met through friends in 2008 that attended her Bible study which she held in her home. At the time, I was single and living in California. I saw Patricia last year and I had just spoken to her less than five days ago. Patricia passed away on November 24, 2020, at 4:35 a.m. Since she lived alone, her closest family was out of state, and when they were notified, it was her two brothers that flew to California to be with Patricia, (their only sister), only to find that they could not be with her. Hospital restrictions because of COVID.
Patricia had just been at Mass on Sunday and was taking communion to someone homebound when she suffered a cardiac arrest while driving. It’s not sure how long it was that she was without oxygen to the brain, when the paramedics arrived, they were able to stabilize her and she was taken to the hospital. What makes this even more of a sad situation is that due to the COVID restrictions, no one was allowed to be with her in the hospital. Although she was stabilized, she was not able to recover and so she passed away without any family or friends near her.
I now live in Houston Texas and was getting updates off and on regarding her status. The most that I could do was pray for her, that maybe a miracle would happen. But it was not meant to be. Then the thought of all that the family who came will have to do to settle things, where Patricia lived, all the legal papers, all the stuff she owned.
In life, we never know when our time will come. Some think nothing of the day when they will no longer be. I know that death is imminent, but when it comes to someone we love, a friend, or family, we are never really ready to never see them again.
Since as a Catholic who believes in the teachings of the Church, we know we will see each other again, we will have new bodies and we will want to live in the presence of Our Heavenly Father forever, where there are no more tears, no more pain, no more suffering.
Today my dear friend Patricia, I say goodbye but not forever, and I know that those whom you leave behind, who enjoyed the meals you cooked, the gatherings you had, the Bible studies you facilitated, and those of the clergy that you served supper too, will miss you and will never forget you.
Saint Faustina wrote in her Diary (202)
Think you can’t make a difference in the lives of others? Try praying for them! Jesus told St. Faustina that we are all a part of one body as the Church has always taught. Faustina faithfully interceded for souls by praying the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, novenas, and litanies. She also intercedes for the lost through her fasting and suffering. She demonstrated the power of intercession when she prayed for her young sister, Wanda, claiming that constant prayer “forced” God to grant her sister grace. “Now I can see how much power intercessory prayer has before God.
“To live is Christ and to die is gain” were St Paul’s thoughts about his mortality on this earth and his immortality in eternity united with our Savior. Your tribute to your beloved friend, Patricia, dear Nightingale is fitting indeed for a fellow believer and a devout Catholic who shared the similar thoughts with St Paul.