paula

A good friend of the Vawdrey family passed away a few days ago due to pancreatic cancer. Paula Noorda found out she had the cancer only 6 weeks ago. Obviously, things moved very quickly, which is good because it is such a painful cancer, and yet hard for the rest of us to have to say goodbye so soon. Paula was always fun to be around and was a friend to everyone. For Mark, Paula & her family might be considered a "second" family. Mark & his brothers literally grew up alongside the Noorda kids -- playing together, going to school together, attending church & all its various activities together, and just being neighbors for years. Attending her viewing last night and being able to reunite with friends was wonderful, but it would have been better under different circumstances, of course. I was impressed by two very different things last night: first, the number of flowers! I understand one of the floral shops in the area quit charging delivery fees because so many arrangements were being delivered for the funeral -- they were taking them over by truckloads! Apparently, Paula loved flowers and gave them to everyone for any reason, so having lots of flowers at the funeral seemed very appropriate. Second, the Noorda family is awesome. Danny & Paula raised great kids. They (including Danny) have great faith and hope in the plan of salvation and they are really finding strength to cope with this trial by being there for each other and putting their trust in God. They are laughing and crying together and that makes everyone around them feel at peace. We will miss Paula very much, but we're happy that we can still enjoy her family.