At the beginning of our covid experience, we were also learning of the final days of Lila Hughes, Chuck’s sister. Lila Faye Hughes transitioned on July 30, about 11:30 pm.
As a matter of fact, he does not know yet that she has died, as he slipped into his other world before I could tell him. Please NO facebook notifications or PMs to him until he is back online on his own.
These pictures are representative of her spirit in many ways. I have 2 most important memories to share of her, that epitomizes my experiences with her. I am trying really hard not to cry because of this stupid oxygen, so this post may take awhile.
Memory 1:
Back when we were young and dumb and knew everything, I had just learned how to belly dance and was sharing it with anyone who wanted to know more. She said sure, teach me. So we got her set up with all the gear. Shawn told me he found her finger cymbals in her dresser drawer yesterday. She kept them all these years! And I started to do my teacher drill, do this do that blah blah. And then, I just stopped teaching her and looked for music that turned her on. When the music turned her on, she was this incredible free spirit, free from her body, from the earth, from anything we all know. She was a spinning top, a swaying tree in the wind, a bird fluttering her wings. I would turn the music up and just stand back in awe at the art that she carved into the air with her body. When she and the music wound down, she peeked out from under that glorious red hiar and said, “are you teaching me authentic belly dancing”. I said, no, I am watching you do authentic Lila dancing and that is what we will do from now on.
Memory2:
In the early 80s, Chuck, his brother John, Lila and Mickey and I went to the Grand Mesa every weekend to cross country ski. Our favorite thing to do was go far away from the crowds, go as deep in as we could go. And then we would spend the day skiing in, eat lunch and then ski back out and go home. There were some epic trips, the Powderhorn trip was so epic that I can’t even tell it. It is a lesson in what to never ever do. But, for the most part, they were pretty safe, always with the same format. The guys wanted to pick trails that they could go downhill on. I would say, it’s cross country not downhill. They would say, go away. So I would. Lila and I would set off to break the trail ahead of them. We would get to the edge of a huge wide field, pause and look out into an expanse of crystals winking in the sun. She would smile at me, I would smile at her and then we cut into the crystal net and set off. We would go and go and go and go. At our agreed upon time, we turned around and went back. And the guys would be sitting on tree stumps, exhausted, soaked and laughing. The trail would be destroyed around them from the falls, and get ups. But, they were happy as were we.
Lila, look for Charlie he will help you with your transition to make it easier. Tell Juanita, Don and Grandpa Joe hi for us as well. We love you now, we loved you then. See you when it is our turn.
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