Also, we drove to Platteville for Kyle's moms funeral. I had trouble keeping it together. I mean I kept it together but I guess it just hurt to see all these family members in so much pain. I've never been to a funeral where I understood everything that was going on. (last funeral I've been to was when I was a kid). Kyle did a great job speaking, being himself, keeping it together. Kyle's always been a clown and when he spoke he made people laugh which I think was helpful for a lot of people and was probably somewhat of a coping mechanism for himself. It appeared that a lot was expected of him too. He did a great job taking charge when it needed to happen. I hope he's not bottling anything up though. I suppose most guys let that out in a private arena though. I guess I'll know someday. Loosing a close family member is inevitable in a big family unless your lucky enough to be the first to go.
The funeral luncheon was at my old Baptist church's basement. The whole experience was surreal. I spent at least 5 hours a week in that building throughout my childhood as a kid. My parents were religious about going to every service. Sunday School, Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, and Wednesday night prayer. The Wednesday night prayer nights are interesting to think back on now. Everyone would break up in to groups of 3 or 4 and spread out among the pews sp? and get on your knees and pray out loud. So, there I was at whatever age 7, 9, 12, childhood, ... kneeling next to a 50 year old farmer and a friend praying out loud. Yep, every Wednesday. The sanctuary was much tinier than I remember. Memory lane....every day as a kid just before we had to go out the door to walk to school my mom would have us all stand in a circle and bow our heads in prayer to ask for God's watchful eye over us, for safety, or whatever needs we had. We would also pray before every supper. It was like clockwork. I never even thought about it and now I realize how bizarre that is for other people.
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It's -4 F right now and I'm going to bike to work. We'll see how that goes. I think I'll wear my running pants underneath my dress pants and wear two coats and two pair of gloves. The only thing that usually gets cold are my hands. Wish me luck. I took the car yesterday because it was -18 F.
4 comments:
sounds like your parents offered you some wonderful connection to God. It sounds wonderful. You've always known you have him in your corner. That's a cool thing they passed on.
The funeral stuff makes me think of my Mom. It is strange and surreal. Very out of body.
Hearing you talk about the old Baptist church we grew up in... that brings back a big flood of memories for me too. I can just imagine the sanctuary....where Jon and I were married, too. Someday we'll bring the girls so they can see. Charity and Mary have been there, but they were quite small when they visited. Bethany has no idea about any of that, so it will be a whole new story for her. Someone told me the brown barn wood wallboard is now white. That must be a huge change. Anyway.
Glad you got to attend the funeral. Seems as if weddings and funerals give us a true spiritual experience and connection to God. Probably because God is so closely related to them. They cut so deep into our souls.
Love you brother,
Lee
I know nobody reads comments this far back usually but the comment about the barn board reminds me of something that happened at the funeral luncheon. I went upstairs to check the sanctuary out and later mentioned to Mike D. at one point that "They've got windows in the sanctuary now!" and without missing a beat he replied in sarcastically fake excited voice "Well, glory be!" ... just to point out he could care less. Not sure if there was a little bitterness there or not...?
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