Monday, September 26, 2005

A Little Smile & A Thank You..........

Thank you all so much for all the kind thoughts and prayers during this time of grief for me and my family.

I have-believe it or not- two stories (which I will combine)from the funeral that will hopefully bring a smile to you -as they did to us.

We had the funeral service- which was beautiful- and every one was understandably upset. The music did not help with easing the pain- the song selection was as follows...Amazing Grace,Long Black Train,Imagine...then the sermon, then two more songs.....Wind Beneath My Wings, and Angel by Sara McLaughlin.
After the sermon and music we were off to the cemetary. We were still upset- taking turns crying and trying to comfort each other when we weren't the one crying. Well, when we got to the cemetary the first family car veered off the road that led directly to the site and went towards the office. We waited about 10 minutes for them to finally come from the office. We laughed and said we bet someone had to go potty and how Daddy would have hated that. We told our Aunts who were with us that when we went on a trip with Daddy- as soon as the urge hit you had better say something, because it would be at least a hundred miles MORE before Daddy would actually pull over for us to go. NO JOKE.
Then we had the service at the gravesite- they had three Navy personel there- two to present the flag to Mom, and one to play Taps- which was hauntingly beautiful.
Then we all got back in the family cars and began the ride home. Suddenly the lead car pulled into a convenience store and two of the members in it rushed into the store. I commented that moms blood sugar must have dropped and they were getting her something to try and raise it til we got home(Mom is diabetic and that was exactly what had happened we learned later). But sitting in the parking lot I suddenly had a picture of Jeff Foxworthy in front of an audience saying......"You might be a redneck.... if you pull into the convenience store in the family car for a Pepsi and a candy-bar after a funeral".......

And we all laughed. And it felt good. And I think if Daddy was there he would have laughed at BOTH those things.

And now comes the hard part- Learning to live without him.

4 comments:

WarriorM said...

When we had my mom's funeral, our family friend who was a priest was unable to do the service. A new parsh priest did the service and was doing a pretty good job until it came to my mom's name. He kept saying "Mary Anderson" and my mom's name was Mary Ann Sanders (not complicated, but english was a second language to him, so we cut him some slack). Someone managed to correct him and we got through the service. When my brothers and sisters and I were at the gravesite we were all pretty upset and trying to get our composure when my sister tearfully said, "Goodbye Mary Anderson!" It was just the comic relief we needed, no matter how irreverant it may sound. You take what you can get when you're in pain.

Anonymous said...

Sunny,
You don't have to live without your Dad as long as you carry him in your heart. OzzyC suggested that you tell stories about him. It's very good advice, you know.

The funeral sounds like it was very dignified and moving. I know I would have been bawling by the time they played Angel though. It's such a haunting melody ... and one of my favorites.

I'm glad you and your family found some comic relief.

Love ya,
Lois

Anonymous said...

Sunny,
I hope you can take some comfort in your loving memories. Get some rest now Sunny girl, and be good to yourself. Your dad is still watching over you from above.
Much love,
Terry

MC Etcher said...

Wow, sounds like a beautiful service!

The Jeff Foxworthy reference is priceless - even at such a sad time, your sense of humor is serving you well.