THE TRAIN TRACKS OF LIFE

365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 174

We had a friend in Ohio by the name of Sue. I haven’t talked with Sue since we said farewell to the Buckeye State. While we’ve been back to visit our kids, they’re at one end of the state and she’s at the other; and since Sue has very little presence on social media, I don’t know what she’s up to these days.

Anyway, one day Sue and I were sitting in the library of our church, and while I don’t remember the context of our conversation, what she said next has never left me. Sue shared a personal parable:

“I think life is like a long journey on a passenger train. We’re all on different journeys, yet we’re on the journey together. We all embarked at one station, and we’ll disembark at another; and along the way people will jump on board and join you for a while. At some point they might reach their destination before you and disembark, or perhaps they’ll be with you all the way to the end.”

My goodness, that’s deep, isn’t it?

It seems like the train God has had me on has taken me from one end of the country and back—many times again. Along the way, I’ve met so many wonderful people who’ve jumped on the train and been on the same tracks for a while.

This last stop brought us to Comfrey Station to be closer to family. I still believe it was good to get tickets to return us to this station in life. That said, though, we enjoyed our previous leg of the journey and all the wonderful folks we got to know along the way. A few stops ago, Sue was one of those people; we traveled along the same bumpy tracks for over 3 years. But then, we headed west, and there we met other friends who we joyously “did life” with for 3 ½ years. One of these friends was Shirlee.

This afternoon, I came in from cleaning the garage, and after cleaning myself up my wife met me upstairs with tears in her eyes. With a lump in her throat, she informed me our good friend Shirlee passed away. She was 60-years young, and sadly cancer caused her to disembark this life.

Shirlee was such a beautiful soul. The embodiment of patience and lovingkindness, she almost always had a smile on her face and a giggle in her voice. Shirlee was a wife, mother, and grandma; but most importantly, Shirlee was a child of the Most High God. She loved Jesus with all her heart, soul, and mind, and for that reason, I can say with full assurance that Shirlee’s final destination was Station Heaven.

One moment she was riding on the train of life; but then the train came to a stop and the doors opened, wherein I have to imagine Jesus was standing there with a bouquet of flowers. Gosh darn it, I have tears in my eyes again.

Honestly, I don’t know if I could’ve made it through Shirlee’s funeral if I had to officiate her service. I would’ve been like a blubbering baby with tears falling all over the pulpit. I loved my friend, and now I’m gonna miss her that much more.

My wife and I thought it’d be fun to visit back there again; there were so many friends like Shirlee we said goodbye to when the tracks took us here to Comfrey Station. Going back to visit would still be fun; but if that day comes, it won’t be the same, because our friend Shirlee won’t be there to hug.

Today, I’m thankful for the hundreds of people I’ve gotten to know on the train tracks of life. Some have departed this world already, and some are still riding. While others might be in other Stations in this life, I’m thankful for the many people who are with me still. Of course, I’m thankful I was fortunate to have ridden the train with Shirlee (and her husband Craig) for a few years. Until we meet again at Station Heaven Shirlee, farewell.