It isn't my place to go into the details of her passing: I'll sum it up by saying complications from a heart attack. Sadly, she was taken off of life support on Christmas Day. It was a very difficult decision, but ultimately the right one considering her circumstance.
Rosa and I became friends approximately 14 years ago working for the same company. We were both single mothers raising two children, had...interesting families that drove us nuts, and bonded over lots of things that women bond over. We socialized outside of work too: in later years not as often as we would have liked but this didn't interfere with our friendship.
Rosa was one of those women who was tough as nails on the outside, but that only disguised the heart of gold she had on the inside. She had to be strong for her family, and had to not take any crap from various aspects of her job. But at the end of the day, I don't know anyone who didn't respect Rosa and admire who she was.
Every year my company holds a very nice holiday party for the employees and most years Rosa and I would attend. We'd sit together with her boyfriend Aaron and whomever I'd manage to scare up: my daughter, my best friend David, or whomever, haha. And we always had the best time of any table in the room. This was true because each year we would have people beg us to let them sit with us; and we'd have to carefully orchestrate who got that privilege and who was relegated to table 2, or 3! Yes, Rosa was a lot of fun and I loved being at these gatherings with her. Let the good times roll!
Last year though, we went to the holiday party and had a terrible time. We didn't like what we wore, we didn't like the venue, we didn't like the food or the deejay. We're just not sure what the problem was but figured part of it was our friend Annette and her husband weren't able to attend.
But this year guess what: Annette and her husband did come, as did Brie! It was the same venue but there was something different in the air: the food was great, the deejay was awesome and they even got me up on the dance floor a few times! Afterwards we were all talking before we went our separate ways and decided it had been the best holiday party we'd attended in years! Everybody hugged everybody and we left, This was on December 7th.
I talked to Rosa on Thursday at work, December 19th. Just the usual casual conversation and work talk; and she was excited to have her daughter and new grandbaby home. We were both looking forward to time off over the holidays and to having a Merry Christmas...
But we didn't get the Merry Christmas we were hoping for. Instead, we have a void where Rosa once was. I don't hurt because God wanted her with him. I just hurt for those she left behind, who are devastated and not quite ready to accept that Rosa needed to be with God. Especially her boyfriend Aaron, who loved her like each one of us dream of being loved.
So Dad: I'm glad that you got to greet Rosa when she arrived. I'm glad that you were with her when she got to see her father again, who died just this summer, and that you got to witness her seeing Jesus face to face.
So when I read the poem "The Mansion In Heaven" at Rosa's funeral on Wednesday, I'll know that one day I will see Rosa in her rightful place in Heaven. I'll know that she's in the arms of the Heavenly Father, who is building mansions for us all.
Aaron and Rosa: I love you both.
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