For me one of the more gratifying moments was when the entire troop of Paula's Red Hat Ladies came in together, dressed resplendently in bright purple outfits and scarves, and wearing impressive red hats. This defiant movement of women who are all about living life and building relationships brought to the scene an affirmation of getting on with life that was extremely refreshing and welcome. Paula loved her involvement with the Red Hat Society. Paula's outfit, chosen by Beth and Lynna Ruth, was purple; and next to her in the coffin was a favorite red hat. It was so touching that a final tribute from this group of best friends was a collection of long stem red roses, placed on her body one by one by the Red Hat Ladies as they each said goodbye.
As with Jeff, Paula's death occurred so suddenly and unexpectedly that it gave her family and friends no time to adjust to the idea of life without Paula. As with Jeff's memorial service, the funeral for Paula helped us move through the loss. As the psalm says, we go through the valley of the shadow of death. And again, we said good-bye the best we could. And again, life goes on.
