Leona May Stanley, beloved wife and mother, age 87, of Clovis, California, passed away on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Gary Stanley, daughter, Tammy Obenoskey, son-in-law, Bruce Obenoskey, daughter, Kim Kazanjian, son-in-law, Craig Mollison, sister, Vera L. Foote, brother, Don Wilson, and numerous nieces and nephews.
GONE FROM MY SIGHT
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, hull and spar as she was when she left my side. And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just as the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone," there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
by Henry Van Dyke
