It’s been a crazy few weeks around here. We gathered around the big table to celebrate two birthdays, and have had wonderful doses of family and friends who stopped by on their way to somewhere else. We also have three friends and a cousin who have undergone gravely serious health issues, and have had astonishing recoveries. Let’s just say that my whining prayers for summer sunshine seem quite trivial.

Meanwhile three of our closest friends have lost a parent. The fourth friend who passed away was someone we didn’t know well, but we knew him through multiple contacts in our life. Each of these families has had many challenges along the way.

The only woman of this group was the mother of Lenny’s best friend from high school. She had lived with her son and his wife, who took loving care of her after her husband passed away. At 92, she was anxious to die, because she believed in an eternal reward in heaven. Along with sadness, there is deep peace and joy in her passing.

One man who died had been ill for most of 10 years. He had diabetes, complete with amputations, and succumbed to kidney failure. Apparently the officiant at the memorial service knew that there was bad blood between the children of the deceased, and I hoped that his gentle exhortations to peace-making and forgiveness might soften some hard hearts. But afterward, I could tell that this family had suffered a permanent rift. They would never be the same.

On the other hand, one of my closest friends lost her elderly father to congestive heart failure and finally pneumonia. The three children in this family had been separated by geography and misunderstanding for years, but now they found themselves having to pitch-in together to make decisions about care for their bereft mom and disbanding the family farm.

It has been an unspeakable amount of work, but they have approached the task with humility, appreciation for each other and collaboration. The brother who had been most estranged from the family has won back the trust of his younger brother and sister. The healing has begun.

In between funerals we attended a lovely wedding. In his prayer for the young couple, the pastor said, “Defend them from those who would defile their unity.”

Maybe that’s something to be prayed at a funeral.

Patty Luzzi has lived on the Eastside for 33 years. Readers can contact her at pattyluzzi@yahoo.com.