Ed

Ed passed away yesterday.  Oh, you don’t know Ed.  I can’t even say that I really knew Ed.  But still, I feel a sadness at his parting.

Ed is someone I would visit on Sunday afternoons when he missed the weekly services I hold at a home.  The home is for memory care residents, so it’s probably safe to say that Ed didn’t know me either.  But each week there was a comfort level that was growing, despite not knowing who I was.  And he knew it was Sunday when I showed up.  He always smiled and was ever so polite.

I can tell you that Ed liked car races.  He was very hard of hearing…this I base on the volume of his television and the voice I needed to use to talk to him.  And Ed loved his sweets.  I knew he’d accepted me when he starting offering to share some of the chocolate stars that always sat next to him in his recliner.  This last Sunday he even offered me cookies his daughter had brought him.  I politely declined, but he wanted me to get one for him.  Of course I did, despite the fact that he was within minutes of going to eat. 

That was my last encounter with Ed last Sunday.  He passed on Wednesday.  I’ll miss him.  It never ceases to amaze me the impact we have on each other’s lives, though the encounters may be brief.