A Sad Day

Yesterday was a sad day.

Last week our neighbour died.  She was a very special lady and we loved her.  Her name was Catherine Gallagher and she was 96 years old...she would have turned 97 next month.  But the funny thing about her was that I never thought of her as 'old'.  She was always so full of life.

In fact she loved life so much that she always especially prayed for expectant mothers.  She would have a list of all the expectant women that she knew and she would pray for them.  I was blessed to be on her list 5 times.

She loved an old fashioned letter.  I remember reading the long note in our wedding card.  It was so beautifully written and so personal.  She would send us all Valentines in the mail and sign them 'Love Mrs. G'.  We looked forward to getting the Valentines from her in the mailbox and we always mailed her some too.

She was always so welcoming and she loved to have visitors.  Johanna did a homeschooling project on the life of Mrs. G.  She went for four different visits along with another homeschooling friend and they interviewed her about her life.  They had written up the questions before they went and each time they picked a different topic to talk about.  That little notebook was become a real treasure here.

She was so easy to talk too.  She could remember 'back in the days' when she was busy with little ones and farming too.  We always had great little talks about life.

I was so privileged to be invited to the tea party in her honour just two short months ago.  She received the Queen's Jubilee Medal.  It was a day to get all dressed up and celebrate Mrs. Gallagher.  She looked so lovely riding and waving to us in the antique car.  She looked just like a queen....and I was wishing that I had taken my camera.

After we arrived home from attending her funeral Mass and luncheon we had another tragedy on our hands.

Jack went up to the barn to feed the darling new calf a bottle and he came back to tell me that the calf was not well.  I went up to see and sure enough it was lying flat out and it was having trouble breathing.  He said that he had been fine in the morning...it was up walking and it had drank a whole bottle.

I checked it for a bowel obstruction...but it seemed fine.  There was really nothing else I could do.  It was near the end....I could tell by the way it was breathing.  It passed away shortly after.

I was speaking to a farming friend and she said that it was very common with a preemie.  She called it a 'crib death'.  She said that their little hearts just aren't big enough and they just stop.

We were all very sad.....no one even had an appetite at supper.

Brenda