Family Funeral

A family funeral is a funny thing. . . There’s the extreme, soul-wrenching sorrow of losing a beloved member juxtaposed with the celebratory stories joyfully shared by close friends and family. We back and forth cried and laughed, wiping away sad and happy tears simultaneously.

After the homilies, music specials, and devotional, we viewed the nostalgic video of a montage of our  nephew, Sam, the oldest grandchild of my deceased brother. He was only 27 and left us behind far too early! The vignettes of Sam’s life from babyhood to adulthood flashed before my tear stained face and I loved them all, but my favorite was the picture of my mother cuddling infant Sam, her first great grandchild. She loved holding babies! I guess we could call her a baby whisperer in today’s lingo. I never saw a baby she couldn’t soothe. Mom was drawn to the littlest of angels.

I know she was the first in line at heaven’s gate to welcome him home! Can’t you just see it?!?!

Sam tragaically died in a mo-ped accident on a rainy evening while leaving his girlfriend’s home. A young life gone so suddenly.

I watched Sam’s mom, Julie, during the montage and thought, “I can’t even imagine her grief.”

As I’ve mulled over the events of this last weekend, words evaded me. However, this morning, when I woke up and lay silently in bed, praying for Julie, a phrase from a song kept repeating in my head, “How can I keep from singing?” So, I’ll share with you the words below in hopes that they’ll speak to you as well.

Life on this earth is not promised. What have you left unsaid?