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