A strange bird

A few years ago I attended a rather unique memorial service for a very unique lady by the name of Marlee. It was held on the beautiful boulders of the Sandstone Bluffs in Cibola County, NM, not far from my house. There was a priest, although she was not Catholic, recorded

bagpipe music, a small group of friends and her two sons who shared their memories. It was the first and only time I have witnessed a person's ashes being spread across the ground. What I remember most is her son ending the service with a smile and the comment, "My mother was a strange bird."

I didn't know Marlee very well, but she left me with an impression of a soul who loved to taste life- all of it. She really didn't care what anyone else,including her family thought about her choices. Her last year or so was spent in a nursing home because she could no longer deal with her physical challenges. She told the nurses right from the start that she was ready to die and at one point chose the exact day. God did not agree with her and had the last word.

Marlee is the kind of person that I would like to be follow. Since I began shedding negative energy and writing what I felt like I have been called a variety of names myself. Some by so called friends and some by close relatives. There are those I have chosen to delete because they insisted on living my life for me.

On this morning when the memory of Marlee Garza popped into my mind I realize that on my passing to another realm I wouldn't mind at all being called a strange bird!