Celebrations - Part 1

So here's my first of three posts of "celebrations" for the week.

As most of you know, my friend and neighbor, Brigitte, passed away on June 24th after battling cancer for the past two years. Its been a crazy two years, and God has taken me on quite a journey of spiritual growth, emotions, service and love.

On Tuesday, July 8th there was a memorial celebration of Brigitte at The Farmstand, her favorite restaurant in El Segundo. Unfortunately her mom and sister were unable to fly out from France but about 40 people came whose lives she had touched in the US. The evening was complete with her favorite dish, grilled salmon salad, along with other tasty appetizers, her favorite music playing in the background and everyone gathering to honor Brigitte and get to know each other a little better. The mood was very lighthearted with a few tears shed as we shared how much she meant to each of us, a funny story or just how much she loved Sam and Sarah.

This is one of my favorite photos of Brigitte. Its from several years back as it was originally a photo with Sarah in it and Sarah is about 1 years old. People were given the opportunity to write letters or pass along a memory of Brigitte to Sam and Sarah and put it in the box for them to read at a later time.

Riley and Sophia were two little girls that Brigitte had been tutoring in French over the past year. Even on the days when she was really sick or tired, these two could brighten her mood and day. Their moms (Nubia, Sophia's mom, and Michelle, Riley's mom, are on the left).

Sarah surrounded by all of her friends. They have been a great blanket of support for her. Sarah's Social Studies teacher and Vice Principal also came to support her (no pictures).

Sarah, Sam and I

Jen, Lauren and Dana (in addition to all of my other friends) have been so supportive and understanding over the past two years. They have gotten to know Brigitte, Sam and Sarah pretty well over the last few months. Lupe, Brigitte and my neighbor, also attended.

Brigitte's close friends, Clare (her best friend of 20+ years that she met through Dan, Sam and Sarah's dad), Paola, Armelle and Debbie. The guy popping his head up in the background was from Brigitte's Cancer Support Group.

Dan and Sophia (tutoring kids). She was quite enamoured with him as he's a really talented artist and was drawing her pictures on the paper on the tables.

The following morning 9 of us headed down to Redondo Beach for the scattering of Brigitte's ashes in the Pacific Ocean. The lightheartedness of the night before helped to set the mood for the scattering, and I think Sam and Sarah have walked through both of the events emotional but in a way that would have made Brigitte very happy and proud of them.

We had about 15 minutes after we arrived and before the boat was going to take off so we snapped a few pics.

The mood was a bit more somber once we got on the boat. Before Brigitte's ashes were released into the ocean, there were two poems read by the captain and I had the opportunity to say a prayer (captain was planning to say a generic prayer but I asked everyone if it would be okay if I prayed for Brigitte and the group). This was a huge witness as no one on the boat,including Brigitte, was Christian or had a strong spiritual affliation.