Well. St. Patty's Day has come and gone, a glorious day with kites flying, bubbles blowing and the kids running with kites and just chasing each other. I expected someone to run into a gravestone and lose some teeth, but that thankfully didn't happen. There was quite an ensemble, all of the family, Rachael and her boyfriend Myles, Jer and Gabbie, Rachael's friends and Maria's friend Carol and her husband. Yellow crocus were blooming on her grave, the only live flowers in the cemetery and three vases of flowers were filled in her memory. Jer's pink tulips gently brushed against the stone, near the words "Not lost, gone before" and that is how it felt - we didn't lose her, you couldn't lose Maria, she will be with us forever.

I did remember something Zach said last year to me...a year after she died. She was buried on March 22, Shane's birthday. Zach was remembering that day and said, "Last year, Shane had a terrible birthday. We had to go to a wedding." I looked at him, wondering what he meant, and then I realized he mixed up wedding with funeral. And I had to laugh. Some weddings certainly turn into something else. Humor was Maria's legacy and that too goes on.