Sparkle the Clown had a lot of living to do. She had discovered a lump in her breast too late and the cancer had spread to her bone. Always the optimist, Sparkle, who was also known as my friend Lyn, said she had too many things she wanted to do and didn't plan on dying for quite a while.
The Christmas cards kept arriving from her, year after year, and she usually mailed them before she took her annual trip to sunny places to see friends and to golf. She loved to golf. Come to think of it she loved a lot of things. She loved people and kids, and she loved her ruby red shoes (closest thing to Dorothy's from Wizard of Oz that I have ever seen!) and she loved organizing gatherings.
She instigated the annual ClownFest in our town. Her smile was infectious, her jokes corny, her zeal and enthusiasm contagious. Even when she was getting sicker and sicker, she could still put on a strong voice when she called me up on the phone. "Hey Gail, it's Lyn" "I want to invite you to something"!
The FUNraiser she put together last fall was to raise money for a new medication that was doing a trial run and was not covered by our medicare. She knew it was going to be expensive and not guaranteed to work but she wanted to give it a try anyway. So, she organized a musical evening, which included a silent auction and entertainment. She sang her trademark song "People are One" and everyone clapped and joined in.
The cancer had spread to all parts of her body and I am sure she was in a considerable amount of pain but in true clown fashion, she kept smiling that whole evening. Everyone had a great time and Lyn phoned me the next day to report that over $3,000 had been raised!
She intended to go somewhere warm for a month or so and then come back to her home for some treatment but she was getting frailer and that trip never happened. I visited her in hospice a few times in January and she could still smile and say a few words. She held court and many friends and family came to be with her. Cards from so many who loved her adorned her room. I read one to her that had just arrived at the same time I walked in the door. It was from the Fall Fair Committee and they thanked her for her many years of service doing face painting and balloon animals for the children who visited the annual event.
I was sorry she was going to be leaving this world. She was only in her 60's and I knew I was going to miss her joie de vivre. One of the last times I saw her, I asked her to do me a favour. We had a mutual friend, an Irish lady named Pat, who had passed from cancer nearly ten years ago. I said "Lyn, when you get to the other side, can you send me a sign that you and Pat have met up and that you're having a good time? She nodded and indicated that she would, indeed do that.
A couple of times before she passed away, I was at the hospital visiting my father and while walking to the parking lot to get in my car, a little hummingbird kept chirping in the tree outside hospice. I know that the hummingbird in many cultures is considered a sign of the soul and it crossed my mind that perhaps Lyn's departure was very close at hand. Sure enough, the next day I got word from Lyn's husband that she had left peacefully just after midnight.
Yesterday, while driving to Lyn's funeral through the pouring rain, I saw a rainbow ahead and it went from one side of the burial park to the other, and I started thinking could this be the sign? A rainbow is certainly a wonderful thing to see right before a funeral! But, was this "my" sign that she had promised? I recalled a movie I had seen when I was a youngster called "Finian's Rainbow" about a leprechaun --that sign of good luck and pot of gold legend synonymous with Ireland. I parked my car and walked to the gravesite, holding my bright red umbrella above my head. The sun started shining and as I stood there waiting for the service to begin, a leprechaun walked by me! I kid you not, it was Lyn's son, he had decided to come to his Mom's funeral in a sparkly green leprechaun suit with a sparkly green clown/leprechaun hat ! There were other clowns there too, not so strange, but a Leprechaun? That really was MY sign. Thanks Lyn and Pat!
I know this sounds far fetched but I swear every word is true. To see a picture of Lyn, click on this link:
http://www.clownsandcompany.com
