We'll miss you, Linda

On September 8th, a beautiful soul left the Earth. A near and dear friend of my dad and our family, Linda Soifakis, passed away after a long battle with cancer. She was an incredible woman with a bubbly personality, a heart of gold, and a bright smile that made you want to smile back. She gave so much to so many, and she will truly be missed.



Someone left this poem in the guestbook at Linda's funeral, and I thought it was really touching:

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, "There she goes!"

Gone where? Gone from my sight ... that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There she goes!" there are other eyes watching her coming and their voices ready to take up the glad shouts, "Here she comes!"

~ by Henry Van Dyke ~

For our wedding, Linda gave Mark and me this set of vases. I love the message, and every time I see them I will think of her :)