MAUREEN

MAUREEN


Well, I reckon I was feeling a tad guilty this Christmas as I entered a fully-stocked florist shop. The young lady greeted me and asked "Can I help you, M'am?"

"Yes", I replied "I need some flowers wired to a cemetery in Nova Scotia."

"Is that in the States?" she asked.

Once we had cleared all that up and I had given her a brief geography lesson about her neighbor to the North, I was signing the card when I heard her answer the phone.

"No, we can't accept coins that are not rolled and ready to deposit in our bank. Are you sure that you want to pay for these funeral flowers with coins? The bill is $210.00, Sir."

It appeared that the caller was shocked to hear the amount and I heard the young lady remind him that when he came in, he had to pay the FULL amount, not a partial payment as he had requested.

My curiosity was piqued as I asked her who had died in our small town. "Oh, it was just that black lady who cleans houses on your street. Her name was Maureen......."

I finished writing my gift card and she gave me the amount due. As I wrote the check, I thought of Maureen's husband and her large family of children, all motherless now here at Christmas. They would be busy planning her funeral while I was en route to a manicure/pedicure.

"M'am, this check is for $210.00 too much. Did you wish to purchase something else today or....."

"Please use it to cover Maureen's flowers and don't tell them who it's from. Merry Christmas, honey."

As I left for my appointment, I had to pass the small cemetery and thought of my dear, dead parents far away. Then I saw a freshly dug grave, ready to receive Maureen. She wouldn't be cleaning anyone's house today.

There's no 'good' time to die but to lose one's wife and mother at the holiday season when a mother's love is the heart of the home, is heartbreaking.

As I walked into my manicurist office and heard "Jingle Bell Rock" on their radio, I thanked God that my own children are alive and healthy. I also prayed that there would never be a Christmas when I would outlive either of them.

Maureen, I hope you love the flowers and have cleaned your last house; Merry Christmas in Heaven!