Blessed relief from his years of suffering from Alzheimer's.
My mom was with him and so were my two brothers.
There were many of us gathered in his last week so he was never alone. One morning he woke up and had breakfast, and by lunchtime he was no longer able to swallow. We knew those would be our last days with him.
My brother, Dave and his family came from California and stayed at the house with mom and dad and the rest of us just came and went as we were able; talking, laughing, eating, and praying in turn.
Many Chaplets and Rosaries were prayed, and our Pastor Fr. Jim came and anointed dad one last time.
It was a long eight day wait. It was a mostly peaceful, though sometimes stressful time, but being together made it a joy.
The funeral home portion was mostly preplanned a couple of years ago, but there were last minute details to work out and so I got to help with that.
God is in the details! One week before dad died, it was the annual switching of the priests at many of the parishes in the Archdiocese. Our new pastor turned out to be an old friend, and so the fact that he was going to offer the Mass of Resurrection for my dad was pretty special.
We picked out readings and music and told Fr. Bob stories he could use in his homily.
Flowers were ordered. The grandkids stepped up and did a beautiful job choosing a way honor their grandpa:
They also took part in the funeral Mass. My mom wanted them each to walk in carrying a rose that would be placed in a vase in front of the altar. As these photos show, they were beautiful bouquets just among themselves. One niece did a reading, and one read the petitions. My dear one did a reading as well.
We even got a new family photo of the sibs with my mom.
After the burial, we gathered for a lovely luncheon. While Park Place did a wonderful job with the catered meal, my favorite part was what my brother Dave did for us. Anyone who knew my dad even a little, knew that his favorite foods were peanut butter and popcorn.
At one point, while having a good p.b. and j. with David, my dad said, "Sometimes I feel like God made peanut butter just for me."
So we toasted his life with some really good peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Yum.
There was popcorn too, which was great.
If you study the photos you will see lots of smiles. When you let God take control of your life, He blesses you in so many ways. Dad and Mom both gave their lives over to God and showed us how to live faithfully in whatever God asks of us. So, in the living, and in the dying, there is JOY.
We helped pass on that lesson to the youngest grandchild Adele, who turned 10 the day her grandpa died. We had a grand celebration with pizza, a pool, pie-in-the-face (by request),
lots of laughter and story telling.
My dad was a good man and will be missed, but we go forward in joy knowing that he is pain free, whole and is watching over us and praying for us so that we may meet again.
Love you, Dad.
One for the memory book. That's my sister Connie singing.
