Brian Gaskill arranged to have Bread Of Life open for a memorial service. His friend Terry Hazen, formerly of the Jesus Inn, spoke a few words, and turned the service over to those of us who wanted to get up and say a few words. The words spoken were very moving, and it was so heartwarming to see so many of Mom's good friends there.
The real neat thing is that this facility is a former night club. When you walk inside, you get a lovely church-like feeling, with royal burgundy wall hangings and religious portraits and icons. But on the wall, a cowboy hat made of neon light tubing. A cactus and some longhorns.....and the bar is still there, although it looks more like it is used for food service now. And I am thinking, wow, this is perfect for Mom. She would have approved. She was such a charming combination of naughty and nice!
Brian's office manager and some other ladies had brought us many, many bags of quick-fix foods and I hope I won't embarass anyone by saying they spared no expense. Deli trays of fruit and vegetables, several pounds of sandwich meat that was deli-fresh and, everything else from cookies to chips and cake. Mom's good friend Kim and her husband Sunny were nice enough to bring us a couple of buckets of fried chicken to the hospital, because no one wanted to leave long enough to go to a restaurant. And they also brought cakes and a huge tray of brownies and roasted chicken to the luncheon we had after the memorial service. Someone else had left a loaf of home-made braided bread on the porch for us. Everyone was so kind. It brought tears to my eyes to see how loving Mom's friends were, knowing they were they were her family in Tulsa. Her neighbors David and Cathy and kids always played a role in Mom's life. They were across-the-street neighbors whose visits and kindesses cheered her days.