Loss

One of the great ladies in my church passed away Thursday. She was a combination of many things to me, a fan of my rough and sometimes terrible organ playing, a friend, one of the few people left who remembers my paternal grandmother and called her "friend", someone who lived in Japan once as well and could share recollections of life there as a gaijin outsider, and the sister of my beloved music teacher. It's such a cliche to say that you never think about the last time you see someone being the last time you're ever going to see them, but that's all I've been able to think about these last two days. I didn't see her often enough, and now there are no more chances to tell stories, give hugs, or play songs. Every time I play, that pew will be empty, empty, and all those links are broken.