Hi Guys,
	I wanted to write more yesterday and share with you all the 
happenings surrounding my Dad's funeral, but I came home with some 
kind of a bug and so I had to keep my message short and to the 
point.  It is no fun flying when you don't feel well.  Liz and I both 
just stayed in bed, for the most part and recovered.  I just wanted 
to let you know yesterday that I was home and safe.
	Anyway, the events surrounding Dad's funeral were just amazing!  I 
just have to share them with you.  God was so with all of us.  First 
of all, when the pastor came over on Sunday, to plan out the funeral 
service we all had a great time swapping memories of Dad and what a 
character he truley was.
	Then, and I have no idea how the next part of this story will fly 
with some of you, but I'll tell it anyway, because it was healing for 
me, I began praying about having the courage to touch my Dad in order 
to say goodbye.  I felt as though the Lord was telling me that this 
would be an important part of the healing process for me because I 
wasn't able to say goodbye to him while he was still alive.  Finally 
I prayed that, if the Lord felt that this was important for me, that 
he would arrange it so that I could do it alone, since I had no idea 
how I would react.  I didn't even tell Greg about this because I 
thought that I was being so bizarre.
	Anyway, our family was scheduled to have a private viewing at 11:00 
am. on Monday morning, which  ended up being a very nice thing, but 
anyway, Greg and I got going earlier than expected and showed up 
arount 10:00 am. instead.  We knew the funeral dirrector pretty well 
because we used to attend church together when Greg and I lived in 
the area.  The funeral director came out to the parking lot to 
express his condolences to me personally and then he said, "Kathy, 
would you like to spend some time alone with your father ahead of 
time?"  I couldn't believe it, but there was God preparing a private 
place for me in the midst of everything, so I went in with the 
director and spent some time alone with my Dad.  I just kept stroking 
his arm and holding his hand.  I couldn't believe how easy it was 
once I got past my own fears.  What I hadn't expected was how I 
opened the door for others in my family, especially my Mom, to reach 
out and touch Dad to say goodbye after me.
	The rest of the family gathered and we hugged and cried, but 
rejoiced that Dad is at peace now.  At around 4:00 pm. we had a 
public wake and, O My Goodness, I couldn't believe how many people 
showed up to say goodbye.  The wake lasted three hours.  Our family 
formed a reception line and I honestly didn't believe that there 
would be enough time for everybody to make it through.  It was 
incredible how many lives this simple man touched.  Our family had a 
kind of joke about it though.  You see, my Dad hated crowds.  He 
always just wanted to get in and get out and get whatever he was 
supposed to do over with.  We were joking that this was probably the 
only way that Dad could have handled this situation, especially as 
the center of attention. GRIN!  I'll bet that there were between 2 & 
300 people, easy.
	Anyway, then, there was a military funeral.  Wow, was that 
powerful.    All the V.F.W. posts in the Stephenson area 
participated.  It is a very moving service.  First, they all filed 
past my Dad and gave him a sollute.  then, they read about his 
military history and his obituary.    When they prayed, they would 
remove their caps and put them back on when the prayer was 
done.  Then, they began folding the flag and as they did so, the 
chaplain explained what each fold of the flag meant.  It was really 
powerful. I was amazed at how much of the service, including each 
fold of the flag, points to honoring God first, above all 
else.  Then, of course, they presented the flag to my Mom, then Taps 
was played on a trumpet and then, the men retreated.
	After that, they held, what is called a prayer service.  The pastor 
preached a sermon at this and there was a time of prayer and then 
Greg and I sang the old Swedish hymn, "Day by Day."
	After most of the people had left, Mom wanted to go up to the casket 
one more time and I offered to go with her.  She and I walked up and 
this time, she felt comfortable taking his arm and saying, "good 
night dear."  It was very hard to keep from crying as she did this 
because I knew that this was what she had said to him every night, 
but this time, it was so final.  We prayed together prayers of thanks 
for Dad and for the life he provided for us, with God's help.
	The next Day, was the church funeral.  I and two of my brothers 
participated in that.  I sang a simple song that Dad had asked me to 
sing when he died.  The thing is, he had asked me to do this over 32 
years ago.  I also sang "Because He Lives," and we got the whole 
church rockin' on the chorus.  then, the cemetary is right behind the 
church so we moved out to there, but the cool thing was that the 
pianist began playing, "How Great Thou Art," and I started singing it 
and everybody joined in, so we walked out to the cemetary, in 12 
degree weather singing.  Awesome, eh?  Seven of Dad's Grandsons were 
the paul barers.   Matt would have made eight, but he didn't want to do it.
	At the committal service, I sang, "Thy Holy Wings Dear Savior."  The 
chill added extra vibrato to my voice, but I was determined to at 
least give this gift, since I had not been able to sing to him one 
more time before he left this earth.
	It was just a powerful few days for me.  Thank you for letting me 
share.  My mom is being amazing so far.  I think that all of us kids 
are so worried about her.  We're constantly calling her to make sure 
that she's okay and those who are close keep dropping in.  She has 
just been so strong through all of this.
	I'll just share two more things, and then, I'll close.  Our church 
out here in Glenburn, on their own, sent flowers to my family.  That 
is incredible to me, that they would reach out beyond their circle to 
show such honor to my Dad.  I can't tell you how good that made Greg 
and I feel.
	Secondly, there is   a Steve Green song called, "Find Us 
Faithful."  Some of the words in that song are, "After all our hopes 
and dreams have come and gone and our children sift through all we've 
left behind, may the clues that they discover and the memories they 
uncover become the light that leads them to the road we each must 
find."  Well, when my Mom was going through my Dad's wallet on 
Saturday, she found a little cross in it that says, "Jesus 
Saves."  She has no idea how long he had carried it or where he 
picked it up, but this little cross was placed in Dad's hands for the 
viewing and the burial.  He had always had it with him and he still 
does, but for a short time, everyone was able to see the testimony 
that my Dad lived in deeds.
God bless,
Kathy