Disembark

Today we say goodbye to a friend, William aka Bill, as he disembarked from the train of life to join his wife June who no doubt is saying "what took you so long". When we start off on this train of life, we go to a lot of birthday parties, later it becomes weddings, and now as the train winds along it is funerals and memorials that become the norm in life. At the good age of 81 it was Bill's turn to quietly go into that good night. Compared to last weeks memorial that I attended to last week, it was like chalk and cheese. Last week was all about the young man and today it was more about God, a somber thought.

I am going to follow a take on life, author unknown, which his daughter Sarah along with her 2 boys read to all of us gathered at St George's Church in Parktown. This is called the "Train of Life".

At birth, we boarded the train of life and met our parents, and we believed that they would always travel by our side. However, at some station, our parents would step down from the train, leaving us on life's journey alone.

As time goes by, some significant people will board the train: siblings, other children, friends, and even the love of our life.

Many will step down and leave a permanent vacuum.  Others will go so unnoticed that we won't realize that they vacated their seats! This train ride has been a mixture of joy, sorrow, fantasy, expectations, hellos, goodbyes, and farewells.

A successful journey consists of having a good relationship with all passengers, requiring that we give the best of ourselves. The mystery that prevails is that we do not know at which station we ourselves will step down. Thus, we must try to travel along the track of life in the best possible way -- loving, forgiving, giving, and sharing.

When the time comes for us to step down and leave our seat empty - we should leave behind beautiful memories for those who continue to travel on the train of life.

Let’s remember to thank our Creator for giving us life to participate in this journey. I close by thanking you for being one of the passengers on my train!

 

I stayed behind while the crowds left the church for some refreshments, I wanted to feel the place I was in. The feeling was so different than last Saturday. I knew Bill as the Chairperson of WOSA, the Wild Orchids of Southern Africa, he was quiet yet tenacious.

The last I saw Bill at one of the Thundafund meetings at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens last year just before he got real sick. He got into his SUV to leave which was parked on a slope, he put his car in neutral thinking it was in reverse and the car just rushed towards a row of parked cars. Bill managed to stop the car just as it was about to hit the parked cars. Very shaken, Bill wind down the window and told us what happened with a nervous laugh. That was the last I saw of Bill as he then struggled with his health. 

This week Bill was called to stepped off the train of life to join the Creator of all things. Thank you Bill, it was good meeting you on that train, even if it was only for a short while.