Jim got the call during Mass this morning - Jossie has left us.
I met this wonderful woman less than five years ago at a Commission Leadership Meeting, but feel like I've known her much, much longer. She came to active ministry at St Matthias through her service on the Community Life Commission, an ass-backwards way to get involved as she described it. Usually, someone would come to the Commissions after some length of involvement in a supporting ministry, but not Jossie.
Our initial encounters bordered on the confrontational, but that soon passed. Soon, we were spending time together planning the Gathering of Ministers (thanks, still, to Marty and Nancy Collins for their hospitality!) as well as through RCIA.
It was at the RCIA Retreat last Palm Sunday weekend that she shared the news with us - her cancer had returned. The chemo robbed her of her hair and her energy, but never her determination to be with us. Even with her most recent hospitalization, I was certain she'd be back with us soon at our Sunday sessions, and there to serve once again as a sponsor during the Great Easter Vigil.
My tears, today and to come, surely aren't for her. She's no longer in pain, no longer debilitated with nausea, no longer needing to find yet another hat or piece of QVC jewelry in pink to fuel her recovery. While she starts this new phase of her time with God, I'll be missing her.
Selfish on my part? Sure. As those closest to her will certainly attest, she's worth it.
Jim, rest of the Pettit family, Jossie's friends - my prayers are with you.
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