Thanks to everyone who has sent messages, texts “checking in” – and especially thanks for all your prayers. This has felt like one of the longest weekends since back in October when my Dad passed away: Saturday would’ve been my Dad’s 74th Birthday and today being Father’s Day. I used to think it was tough having those two so close together because it was always hard to come up with gift ideas. Sadly only now do I realize how silly that frustration really was…
Yesterday our immediate family gathered to finally celebrate the “committal rites” for my Dad where we interred his ashes in a crypt at a Mausoleum. Dad had been pretty outspoken over the years that when he died he wished to be cremated. The fact that he died so suddenly; that we didn’t have a family plot; that we were in such shock and really weren’t prepared to make decisions like what cemetery, plot or masoleum, etc – and then our own difficulty coming to terms with this loss, all contributed to this delay. So when we finally decided we needed to do this, it seemed appropriate to gather on his birthday to finally do this. We knew we would all be thinking of Dad and profoundly sad. So this gave us a reason to gather together and fortunately we stayed together for hours back at my parents house just talking, sharing stories, watching the kids run around playing.
I’ve not been doing a good job “dealing with my grief.” My modus operandi is throwing myself into work (into ministry) and I’ve been doing that a lot since a few days after my Dad’s funeral. Days like this catch me off guard though and kind of underline and bold text the reality that the need to mourn and to grieve is a real need. Even harder is learning how to do that.
My thanks and gratitude to all of you for your prayerful support to my Mom, my family and I and for my Dad’s eternal repose.
