Kathy,
No matter how hard we try to get away from it... seeing is believeing, and 
we see with our hands often.

Brad


At 09:24 AM 1/19/2007, you wrote:

>Brad,
>My older brother Terry, who is also blind,wouldn't touch Dad.  He was 
>afraid that he would have nightmares.  I'm glad that I did though.  It 
>wasn't any different than touching a person who is a sleep.  It was very 
>healing for me and I'm so glad that I followed the Lord's leading in 
>this.  He was right, as usual!
>Kathy
>
>
>
>At 10:19 AM 1/19/2007, you wrote:
>>Kathy,
>>
>>That  was an awesome service. I can only hope that I can make such a 
>>difference in folks lives that there's so many to attend it is exhausting 
>>to those  sending me off. Regarding the touching bit? I did the same 
>>thing when my brother died.  I was reluctant to at first, but without the 
>>visual closure it seems silly standing there with nothingness. So I just 
>>padded his chest and said" Good bye buddy". Dead or alive, our bodies are 
>>just a physical representation of the person that lived or lives inside.
>>
>>Brad
>>
>>
>>
>>At 09:04 AM 1/19/2007, you wrote:
>>
>>>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