Lost For Words

I was ‘lost for words’ for a while there. On Wednesday morning I went to visit Matty and heard that Sammy, her friend and neighbour, was very ill. On Thursday evening he died. Bert and I went to his funeral yesterday. The chapel was packed and for the first time ever I stood outside for a funeral mass. It was freezing cold.

Bert said it was the biggest funeral he had ever attended. Hundreds of people came. London Sister came over and Leitrim Sister came up from Dublin where she’s working right now. Vancouver Brother would have loved to come because he has always had a very special relationship with our neighbours. He was a toddler when we first came to live on the Murphystown and one day he toddled down the road to visit the people next door. He did not return until he was twelve.

Sammy and his entire family were always close to our family. Closer even than some of our kin. He didn’t start his own family until he was well into his thirties so they are all relatively young. He adored being a father and was adored by his children. They will miss him so much. And so will everyone else who knew him.