Church Pews

We attend a small rural church.  A church where everyone is welcome.  Hey, they welcomed me.  You knew exactly where to find your friends.  They sat in groups.  There was Orville’s family sitting on the right side.  Four generations attending church, with a daughter sitting beside her parents and a granddaughter sitting next to her grandma.  Sitting toward the back was Dean’s family.  This family surrounded their special needs son/brother with love. 

Multiple generations seems to be a theme.  You would find Max, a brother to Orville, sitting in a pew with his wife where they could see their grown daughters sitting together and see their son running the camera.

The church is made up of families, individuals and a special group of ladies I dubbed my “back row beauties.” This row of lovely ladies took me into their fold immediately.  I was 70 when we started attending and, I think, they looked at me as being like a daughter.  Honestly, some were old enough to be my mother.  Doris and Ethel, two sisters, along with other women, filled that pew with dignity and grace. 

Orville, Max, Dean, and Doris no longer sit in their pews.  During the last year, these four saints have died.  And I miss them.

My husband had many business dealings with Orville and Dean.  Their word was honest and true.  I did not know Max prior to coming to church, but I don’t think I ever saw him without a smile.  If that is not the case, do not tell me.  I want to remember this new friend  as I saw him.  He did try to look stern, but it was more of a crooked grin that made him look like he had gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  

And Doris.  Doris has not been well and she stayed home for fear of catching Covid.  That broke my heart, because the back row did not look right.  Doris had offered me friendship when I first came and I missed my friend.  When I heard Doris had died, I was relieved.  Now I know Doris has her strength back.  Doris is no longer confined.  Doris has moved to a new pew, but I will always see her sitting with the “back row beauties.”

During the same time, we have told other family and friends goodbye and supported those that grieved.  We hold our memories in our hearts and we worship knowing our lives were enriched by each person who has left an empty place in our rural church pews.