A Celebration of Life
April 22, 2008 by admin
Death seems to come in bundles. Up until Rebecca’s grandfather died a month or so ago, death has been pretty absent from my family. However, in the past month I have been to two funerals: Rebecca’s grandfather and today Gabe’s grandfather, T Harold Craig. The two funerals were both touted as celebrations of life. And each of them, in their own ways, was just that. The funerals were also on two different ends of the spectrum, as far as I am concerned. One was a Catholic funeral; the other a Southern Baptist. Both were very special in remembering the life of the deceased. The Catholic funeral was very structured and ceremonial. The Southern Baptist funeral was much more “noisy” and full of audience participation. Neither one was “better” than the other… that is not my point at all. It is just interesting to see two different perspectives on the final celebration of life.
I did not know Gabe’s grandfather very well… I had met him on several occasions. I don’t know if he would have known my name had he stumbled across me in the street. But after the service today, I realized how truly special the guy was and it is awesome to be a part of his extended family. Gabe’s mom, Debbie, and one of his aunts, Becky, both spoke wonderfully at the service. I am truly impressed with their ability to tell such wonderful, loving and inspirational stories in a time like this. No matter how hard we want to call a funeral a celebration of life, it is also a goodbye. And that is difficult. Gabe’s grandfather was a Southern Baptist minister. He performed the service for one of his four daughters when she passed after a tragic accident. Now, how difficult would that have been for someone to do?
One of the really neat things about the funeral today was all of the people who spoke. They basically opened the floor to anyone who wanted to say something. And people did a wonderful job of memorializing T Harold Craig’s nearly 80 years on this earth. A touching story was when the subject of one of Debbie’s comments spoke. Debbie commented about her sister Valerie (the one who passed) and how when she was getting married she had an African American in her wedding party. This was protested by several church goers. Pastor Craig let those protestors know that they would be much happier in another church. The friend of Valerie, whose name escapes me, spoke during the open session. It was moving.
Events like the Celebration of T Harold Craig’s life today move me and remind me that it is time for me once again to visit my relationship with God. I say it’s there, but I don’t demonstrate it near enough. I could certainly never be a T Harold Craig, but I do know that when people gather to celebrate my life someday (I hope at least a few will show up!) I want them to know where I am… and if I were to pass today, not even I am sure that I would be where I want to be.
Two special people to my family and friends have passed in the last month or so, and each had a wonderful celebration of life. Neither one did I know very well. But one day, hopefully, we’ll meet again and become more acquainted.
-_RE
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