The Tale of Two Funerals

What a week. Tuesday morning within 15 minutes of each other we received 2 telephone calls to let us know that 2 very special men in our lives had died. The first was a wonderful and inspirational elder in the ecclesia who was instrumental in helping me grow to love the Truth as a young person. He was so full of life and energy and always willing to answer what I thought were silly questions that I had. The second was my grandfather, he had been sick for a while so in a way it was humane.

Thursday was Uncle Colin's funeral. Though my heart ached and tears ran down my cheeks, I left with a feeling of hope and comfort in the Resurrection. I know with assurance that he is merely sleeping, awaiting our Lord's return.

Friday was the visitation for Grandpa, I was overjoyed (as you can imagine) that Hubby was able to come home a day early from his work trip to Delaware so that he could be with me. Since my parents are divorced, I was a ball of nerves not knowing how it would go with my father and mother in the same room. Overall it went well though. Saturday we left the children at home with a wonderful young lady from the ecclesia and drove over an hour to the funeral.

WOW talk about opposites. Uncle Colin's was so nice, interspersed with hymns and readings. Funny and thoughtful memories from his life often involved family. At Grandpa's all they talked about was his military service, hardly anything about his family life. It was a lot shorter, but I found less meaningful. I had never experienced a military funeral before, it was an experience.

Perhaps that is why I left feeling empty. Grandpa and I did not share a common belief or hope, there is no hope there. It is heart breaking really. The Grandpa I knew never talked about his time in the army, never mentioned anything past the fact that he was a captain. He didn't place that much importance on it at all, and yet that is all they focused on.

My memories of Grandpa are of a kind man who always had a free lap for the grand kids. One who wasn't afraid to get down on the ground and play with us. He always had chocolate in the house and shared often! He was so pleased with his great-grandchildren too.

So today we start a new week. All the jobs that didn't get done last week are calling to me. But after last week I'm going to take the time and hug the children, share a cuppa with Hubby, read stories and play games, and show the kids how much I love them.

For you never know what tomorrow may bring.