Life Goes On

Trip is over. Certain parts of the funeral were rather difficult. A chronology of the past few days is recorded here, a comparison/contrast of a catholic funeral with protestant funerals is at my Captain's log blog.

1. When we arrived at the church the funeral home was delivering the urn. It was hard seeing it for the first time.
2. When we got inside Bruce was up front with the two Priests. They were gracious in letting him, a Baptist minister, be a part of the service. They had him carry the urn from the front of the church to where we were standing in the vestibule so it would be a part of the procession once everyone was seated. It brought to mind the picture Bruce put on his blog of him holding Penni as a baby, and now he was holding her in death. The look on his face as he walked down the aisle matched mine.
3. About the fourth bead on the rosary, and never having attended a Catholic Mass before, we didn't know how many more times we'd have to go through this. Mom whispered in my ear, "If you give me a funeral this long I'll haunt you the rest of your life." I knew it was rather inappropriate, but I couldn't help but smile at this.
4. Bruce posted the eulogy he gave on his blog if the readers here are interested in it you can click here.
5. Life does go on. Bruce's daughter is expecting a child, his son's wife is expecting and as announced here previously so is my son. All told my mother is looking forward to three grandchildren in the coming year.
6. Since getting back I've had little time to brood or dwell on our loss. With two grandchildren opening their Christmas presents and all the noise their new toys make life is quite lively right now.
7. I do hope everyone else had a terrific holiday season.