Celebrating a Special Life

   On the weekend before Halloween, a dear friend from college days arranged a small reunion at the coast. There were six of us in all who made the trip to the beach for the reunion—four ladies from our former close-knit UCLA group and two husbands.

   Besides the fun of getting together, reliving memories of wonderful times and enjoying the ocean, we had the mission of fulfilling a wish of one of our group, Lydia, who had passed away earlier in the year. It was Lydia’s desire that her cremated ashes be taken out to the ocean. Paula, who helped as one of Lydia’s caregivers towards the end of her life, invited us to her beach house at Los Osos for the weekend and rented a sailboat for a few hours on Saturday.

   On Friday evening, we all gathered at the beach house for dinner. Afterwards, the four of us college chums decorated six small boxes with pictures, tissue paper and words that reminded us of Lydia like vivacious, caring, loving, wise, giving, committed…all good descriptions of a person who had dedicated her life to helping others in any way that she could.   

   The time spent decorating the containers and sharing about what Lydia meant to each of us was very special. Lydia was the first person I met at UCLA. The week before school started, she happened to walk into my room to get acquainted. My roommate hadn’t arrived yet and I was feeling homesick. When she spotted some Christian literature on the bulkhead of my bed, Lydia asked if I was a Christian. She hugged me on the spot and suggested starting a Bible Study with some of the other girls on our floor. Thus began a friendship which lasted almost fifty years!

   Early Saturday morning, we drove to the pier at Avila beach and waited to take a Kodiak out to the small sailboat, “The Spirit,” which was moored to a floating raft.  As Captain Mark untied his boat from the raft and got ready to go out into the bay, several noisy sea lions dove off the platform into the water. We passed a long jetty, where hundreds of them perched on the rocks and then went by a couple small islands, a perfect spot for pelicans, cormorants and sea gulls. There were also several sightings of whale spouts along the horizon in the direction our boat was headed. It was an amazing day for a sailboat ride in honor of a beautiful friend.

   When the captain found a suitable place to stop, he turned off the engine so that we could have a quiet moment to pray before putting the little boxes into the water. Later Mark informed us that just after we started praying, a large whale jumped out of the water and landed on its back! Then we began spotting several gray whales not far from the sailboat. With one of Lydia’s favorite Elvis CD’s playing in the background, the largest sail was unfurled and the breeze began to carry us along.

   I couldn’t be sad, not with the sun shining down on us, being with Al and close friends, the wind carrying us along in the “Spirit,” the wonder of the gray whales and “Amazing Grace” in the background. Joy filled my heart, especially knowing that Lydia is now in heaven with Jesus, her Lord and Savior. 

   Our good and gracious Father, thank you for Lydia and for her friendship. Thank you for the promise of eternal life. You are faithful! For this we celebrate and give glory to you! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die…” Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a NIV

Some of our UCLA group. Lydia is second from left.