Of Comfort and Sweet Memories

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

We've known it was coming for a long time.  And yet...somehow, we had grace for still more years.   

 I remember their 50th anniversary; we didn't think we would gather like that again.  But we did for the 60th.  And the 70th. And even beyond that...most of the family was able to be on hand for the 75th wedding celebration last June.   How amazing.

But time marches on, and my Father-in-law fell back in October and couldn't get back up.  He went in to rehab to try and rebuild his strength but he had problems with hemoglobin counts and other things and just couldn't get back on his feet.  Christmas was a good day, but he began a serious decline right after.  He spent about a week on hospice care and passed away on Jan. 21st at age 98; he would have been 99 in April.

With family coming in from Pennsylvania, California, Florida and Alabama, it took a minute to get everyone organized and travel plans made.  My Sweet Babboo and I drove up to my folk's farm west of Indianapolis on Wednesday, picked up the Florida kids at the Indianapolis airport Thursday evening and drove up to Elkhart; The Artist and his wife arrived at the farm a couple of hours after we left and came to Elkhart on Friday, swinging by West Lafayette and picking up a cousin from Purdue on their way up.  The Princess was on a work trip to Florida (She's a Disney travel agent,  but was learning about Universal Studios), which she cut short, flying back home on Thursday and she and her hubby and the two wee boys made the entire drive up on Friday.  By Friday evening, everyone was in town. Only one granddaughter, who was ill with the flu, was unable to attend; the memorial service was live-streamed so she could see it.

The memorial service was Saturday afternoon, in the 100 + year old Methodist church all the siblings grew up in.

He was a member of the Greatest Generation...a Purple Heart/ Bronze Star WW 2 veteran.  He taught chemistry for years at the local high school, and sang Barbershop, in both quartets and a chorus, and in the church choir, for decades; the memorial service was full of music.  We sang his favorite hymns, and listened to recordings of his barbershop quartet and also of the family, including the special music we sang at church for their 70th Anniversary (I confess to wiping a couple of tears at that point).  But my Mother-in-law was insistent that this was not to be a 'sad affair'; she wanted us to sing and remember good things.  

I was surprised to see some folks I knew; it was good to see distant cousins and old friends we had not been able to contact for a while.

Memorial services are good for that.

My sister-in-law said it well, in a meal blessing on Friday: "We gather to comfort and encourage one another, and to honor the memory of our beloved Dad."

Yes.