In memoriam

Preached a funeral Saturday - probably the last of my old hospice patients that will ask me to do the funeral. She asked me more than a year ago - her husband's funeral, in May of 05, was the first I preached for (rather than doing music), just about 3 weeks after my ordination. It went pretty well, as such things go. The family behaved - which they probably won't keep doing much longer, as it was the deceased who held them together. She was a wonderful old lady - in her 80s, she'd been married 66 years when her husband died, and loved her family and loved God. But a lot of her kids, even though individually they seem to be good people, they just don't get on with one another. It's very sad. I preached about how she was a person of forgiveness and turning the other cheek, and that's what she wanted her children to do - this is what she told me a year ago. But human nature being what it is, I doubt they really heard me.

Still, the funeral itself was a fitting tribute for her, and I was honored to be with the family at this event. I won't forget her. I may post some thoughts from the sermon in the next day or two - or not, we'll see.

My great-aunt Kitty died over the weekend, too. I didn't know her well at all, but liked her from the handful of times we met. I'm driving up to Greenville in the morning so I can ride down with Mom and my grandmother to the funeral in Atlanta - mostly because Mom doesn't like Atlanta traffic.

I thought I was done with hospice?