The misty angel has departed. Bonnie died on Monday night.

It was too soon.

I am totally confident that she is in a better place. The sorrow is for those she leaves behind.

Her family is bereft. As am I .

I spoke with her husband Alex, he told me the news. We spoke briefly, he recounting some facts, and both of us saying “too soon” “so hard” “sorry”.

As I was out walking the dog and weeping later that evening, the poverty of what we had to offer each other struck me. There were few and pitiful words to say.  At times like these, we are stripped down to the basics. Like children in the mud.

I might as well have made a mud pie for him…the real kind out of dirt and water. “here..”  Or as if I offered him a pretty rock. “Look, here..it has a stripe in it.”

Sophistication is meaningless for this.  In the face of this loss, earthly things are pointless.

But earth is where we live.