For Rudy

 

Humans have difficulty holding two opposing thoughts in their heads simultaneously. They may hate snow but think it's beautiful, but if they verbalize these opposing views, they will be labeled wishy-washy or, worse yet, indecisive. Humans are encouraged to take one position and hold onto it with their lives.

 

For angels who have left their parents behind, their entire existence is a contradiction. More than anything, they want their parents with them but do everything possible to make sure they aren't.

 

For angels, Lovey and Tiara keeping their parents from the Bridge through bouts of Covid and their dad's battle with cancer was a labor of love. It seemed either one or both of their parents' arrivals was imminent. But thanks to the tireless work of their two Angels, mama Linda and daddy Rudy recently celebrated their anniversary. They toasted a long majestic life together marked by six children, countless grandchildren, and adoring pups. It was indeed a life of love.\

But those battles took their toll; You cast a shadow of life everywhere you go. But as you get older and the sun begins to set, that shadow grows fainter. When the darkness takes hold, the shadow disappears

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When a soul passes, their predecessors urge them to walk into the light because their shadow is there. It is like how humans find their shadows inside their homes during the darkest of nights. But when a human sees the sunset for the final time and walks into the light to recapture their shadow, the doors behind them close, and they can't return.

 

Daddy Rudy's sun set for the final time Saturday after contracting COVID and pneumonia and deadly combination at any age but worse for seniors whose immune systems were compromised by cancer treatments. Damn this COVID. I hear it has caused the most remarkable Bridge expansion since World War II.

 

It would have taken a miracle powered by the strength of every angel to keep him from the next life. On Saturday afternoon, I heard human angels chant, "Rudy," I hoped Sauron had finally taken revenge on Sean Astin. When we saw a young man Tashi and Lovey had only seen in pictures on end tables come towards them, all sense of failure was lifted from them as they ran to their dad.

 

While we were overjoyed at their reunion, we also felt sadness for Mama Linda and ourselves because we liked spending time and getting dolled up in Lovey and Tiara's salon. Rudy was given a mansion when he arrived on the count of his life, how he raised his family, and the good he did. Indeed, Tiara and Lovey would be leaving us to live with their dad. 

 

We were happy to learn that not only was Rudy's house nearby and that Tiara and Lovey would still come to work every day, but they invited us for a sleepover. We barely slept, consumed with the mansion's beauty and our mutual worrying about Mama Laura.

 

It will be hard for her, especially she lost a sister earlier this year, and while we are not always able to handle what God gives us, that is what angels are for, to provide strength to the weak and hope to the hopeless.