There was a woman and two little girls (each about 8-10 years old) walking in before me.

As we enter the store, one little girl squeals out, "There's Wendyyyyy!", and the two of them run off.

They seemed happy to have spotted this Wendy girl.

The woman says nothing. By the time her girls (I assume they're hers) take off, she's checking out melons. I had stopped to check out fruit salad on an endcap.

Wendy was looking at the candy and snacks in front of the registers when the two girls attacked.

Wendy was WAY smaller than the two girls... and there were TWO of them. They pushed her down, one girl grabbed Wendy's hair and the other girl slapped her face...a LOT.

Horrified, I yelled to their mother, "Ma'am? Your kids are beating up that little girl!" and I pointed.

I guess i expected her to break it up, make the girls apologize to Wendy, talk to Wendy's parents, leave the store and punish her daughters.

She shrugged and looked at me as if to say something like, "Ehhh. kids! Whattayagonnadoo?"

This scared me more than the fighting.

By the time I had told the woman what was happening and she gave me her "so what?" shrug, two cashiers had broken up the fight and were looking around, I assume, for parents.

I went up to them and pointed at the woman... who, by the way, was still looking at melons.

A manager-looking fellow in the dark green jacket strolled up to the melon lady, followed by the two cashiers pulling her daughters along. Wendy followed them, alone.

It was like i just could NOT mind my business. Normally, I would have left at that point, because it looked like there was an end to the incident in sight, and it didn't involve me. But I just had to know how this was going to end...

So I stood by the fruit salad and listened. I could hear very little of the conversation but I learned this:

These girls explained to their mother that they were "just having fun".
Wendy said she was there without her parents.
The mother-person said the girls are good kids, they just have a lot of energy.

What the hell???

Sam is in love with my big red Liz bag:

X. And yet --- she has not spoke so long!
    What if Heaven be, that, fair and strong
    At life's best, with our eyes upturned
    Whither life's flower is first discerned,
       We, fixed so, ever should so abide?
    What if we still ride on, we two,
    With life for ever old yet new,
    Changed not in kind but in degree,
    The instant made eternity, ---
    And Heaven just prove that I and she
       Ride, ride together, for ever ride?

I debated over whether or not to post this. In the end, I decided that it might be a good way for me to get through everything I need to get through, and in a way, it puts my mother out in the Neverland of the internet, and I like that idea very much:

Anyone who knew my mother knows that she loved things to be simple and she never liked anyone to make a fuss over her, so I’ll try to be brief about who my mother was.
 
My mom knew where she came from, was proud of her husband, children and friends.  She was very proud to serve her country.  She had a great sense of humor and a love for all animals, especially horses.   

Those who knew my mom will always be reminded of her when watching a western, the Three Stooges, a horse race, or a Yankees or Mets game.  Let’s face it, we all know that if my mom had a spot on ‘Jeopardy!’, she would have struck it rich!  Speaking of striking it rich, with the way my mom drank Dr. Pepper, I should have bought stock in that company.

My mother always put everyone’s needs above her own; even her hopes and dreams were not for her, but for her friends, her children and their children.  Even when she was getting ready to leave us, her concerns were not for herself.  She wanted us to know that we would be alright without her. Luckily for us, we are never really without her. Her love for us is that powerful.

Mom was an avid reader and introduced me to some of the best authors that ever lived; I will probably never be able to read a book or watch a Shakespeare play without thinking of her.  One of her loves was poetry, and so I wanted to share one of her favorite poems, but none of them seemed appropriate, so I turned to her favourite musical artist, Marty Robbins, for help:

“I see a candle light, down in the little green valley,
Where morning glory vines are twining 'round my door.
Oh, how I wish I were there again, down in the little green valley;
That's where my homesick heart will trouble me no more.

There's only one thing ever gives me consolation,
And that's the thought that I'll be going back someday.
And every night, down upon my knees, I pray the Lord to please take me
Back to that little old green valley far away.

I hear a mocking bird, down in the little green valley.
He's singing out a song of welcome just for me,
And someone waits by the garden gate, down in the little green valley;
When I get back again how happy he will be.

And by a little babbling brook, once more, we'll wander,
And in a shady nook we'll dream the hours away.
And I will leave all my cares behind, go where I know I'll find sunshine,
Back to that little old green valley far away.”

My mother was not very religious, but I’m sure she would not mind if I quoted from John 14:27-29:

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.”

She wanted us to honour her memory by living our lives to the fullest, happy in knowing that she is with our father, and at peace.

Thank you for coming.