REMEMBERING  SALLY  IN  THE  SUN
 

When I got the package from Sally's

 daughter-in-law,
my first thought was…

Sally must think she is going to die
if she is giving her things away..

not realizing until I read the letter 

that she had passed on May 12, 2013.

I don't know what it was that drew us together.

I was in my late 20's going to Hawaii to meet my
husband. I remember sitting next to

 her on that long flight.
 At the time, I thought she was very old.

 I am laughing now,
knowing that she was younger than I am now.
I guess that long flight kept us connected because

we talked non-stop;
Sally was a warm, soft spoken person who

was not easily forgotten.



We started sending Mother's Day and

 Christmas cards to each other.  

Into our 25th year, Sally didn't send a card,
and I missed receiving it. 

I, immediately, wrote back to her,

asking if she was still alive.
This was 11 years ago when she

 was 87 years old.  
She wrote back with her words of wisdom:
"You only missed me when I stopped writing." 

It was the interruption in an enduring and

'expected' communication; however, minimal, in words;

the unspoken words were always there in spirit.

I will miss her more now that she

has "stopped writing."

 I am at ease that she was able to pass,

 in peace, from this

 life to a spiritual one in her own bed. 

I started rereading old letters when one stood out.

It was a Christmas letter of Sally Lee's biography, 

from her family, dated 2012. 


Sally, aka Celedonia Akui Lee,
became a ward of the Salvation Army
 at the age of  seven  in Hawaii. 

Before that time, she was a 
sugar cane picker who took the


 long way home to avoid the
 water buffaloes.
 She cooked rice over an open

fire and ate over a trough. 


Given her only pair of new shoes
 at 18 by the SA,

she was "kicked
 out to fend for herself."
She had to drop out of school her senior year


to make a living, as a live-in-maid. 

She lived and loved to the grand old age of 98.

 Sitting next to Sally on the plane in those early years in 1980,
she appeared content and graceful.
Her petite body covered in tinted colors with floral designs,
not drawn for attention.
A soft spoken person without a big stick
because of her killing kindness and generosity.

Her Love and Perseverance is evident through her 

children and their families. She was proud of them all.

Every letter and card came with a full description
of all the names and ages of her children,

their wives and grandchildren;
and what each of them accomplished. 

She had come a long way in life to see that her labor
was rewarded through the accomplishments 

of her children and grandchildren.



Her virtues were considerable compared to the harsh life
God had given her from birth. 

She was truly a child of God
who knew how to encourage others to love.

Much care was taken, to follow her instructions

when I received the package from her daughter-in-law.

A long, loving letter from her daughter-in-law to me,

accompanied Sally's jade bracelet representing 

good health and prosperity.
Her "heart" necklace represented

her love.

 In her purple knit cap, I see her smiling face.
Her small framed body in the sunshine.
Her favorite song: 

                   "Sunshine On my Shoulder"  by John Denver.

Sally 

Her children chose the summer Solstice day

of June 21 to scatter her ashes.
She blew in the breeze off the mountain top,
towards the sun.