Heaven's New Resident

Today we said goodbye to a wonderful Christian lady, Angie Long. Miss Angie as most everyone called her, was such an example to me. Even though I was only able to know her for about four years, it felt like so much longer. That's probably due to growing up with her sister-in-law, Carley Long, as my church grandma. Those two ladies are so much a like that I instantly felt a connection to Angie like I had always known her.

Today was really a glorious day for Angie. Her pain stopped and I truly believe that her faithful life was rewarded. But still I was really sad to hear that Angie had passed today, mostly because I wish my children could have known her better. I know they won't have much of a memory of her, but I will have some memories of her with them.

I don't think I will soon forget the way Angie's face lit up a few weeks ago when she saw Carly on a Sunday morning. A few days earlier, Carly had the idea to write a letter to Miss Angie. She drew a picture, I dictated some words and addressed the envelope, and Carly put the stamp on it and stuck in the box. By Sunday Angie had already received the letter and she was so happy to see Carly. She told her how happy she was when she read it and how nice it was of Carly. Carly definitely felt good about that. She told me later with a smile on her face, that Angie liked her letter. In fact, on Saturday she wrote Miss Angie another letter and said, "I miss you. I hope you can come home to Juneau soon." Angie is definitely home, unfortunately it's not with us right now.

I will also remember the image that I posted above. That's Angie holding Isaac on his first Sunday at church. Her face was so bright when she saw our new baby boy. And without her saying a word, I knew she was full of happiness for us.

And almost every time Carly pulls up a chair next to me to help me cook in the kitchen, I think of Angie. One time, I told her that Carly likes to help me cook in the kitchen, and she encouraged me to be as positive as I can whenever she wants to help. To give her tasks to do when we're cooking and encourage her to enjoy cooking and helping. Until Angie told me that, I had never thought of it like that. I'm so glad she shared that with me.

Angie will be missed here by many people. Please pray for her family and friends as they grieve. She was an amazing woman with such a strong faith and a warm heart. And she's the type of woman that I hope to become one day.