I'm in Greer this weekend a little unexpectedly. Mark Winburn passed away on Friday - he has been one of Cory's closest buddies for years, and I've been blessed to have him in my life since Cory and I started dating. He was one of the first friends of Cory's I really got to know... a simple, happy, sweet soul. We're really, really going to miss him.
It's been a surreal few days. Cory called with the news around lunch time on Friday, so I came up Friday afternoon. We sat and talked for a few hours, then went to bring bagels to Mark's parents. Visiting with them was hard - there's no way to find the correct words for something so.. misplaced. His mom was beautiful - so pained, but so graceful. She wanted to hear all about our experiences with Mark. As could be expected, the sadness became laced with laughter. We'll never really know if he almost hit that horse. That replaced light in that random lamp post will eventually burn out. His personality, wit, and joy were so deep that even now - even at the saddest point - his stories make us laugh.
The story that keeps running through my head is the time Cory, Mark, me, and one of my girlfriends went out to dinner. Mark had just settled into his new house, and Cory was still (as always) settling into his. For thirty minutes straight, Cory and Mark talked about their rosebushes. How they water them, how they fertilize them... I don't even know how they kept coming up with plant-related conversation topics. My friend and I kept our own conversation going, then we'd turn back to see if the guys had moved on. Nope. Those boys talked about their "manly" gardening tactics the entire time.
Mark's mom said the florist is using Marks prized flowers for the arrangements in the church. He would have wanted it that way - he was so proud of the darn things.
He's Winburn. He and Cory were supposed to be old souls together. He was supposed to be in our wedding. He was supposed to be a part of our lives for a long, long time. Cory's a pallbearer at the funeral on Monday. Mark was supposed to walk down Cory's aisle - Cory wasn't supposed to walk him down his. It's a sobering realization knowing that our "supposed to" and God's "supposed to" can be so tragically different.
Monday will be hard, but it will also be a celebration. As short as it was - Marks life is truly something to celebrate. Cory put it so well - Mark never met a stranger. He never had an acquaintance. Once he met you, you were in. You were a part of his life.
If only we could all have that kind of love. We miss you so much, Mark!
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