Funeral
I spent Monday at work. There was stuff that I had to get caught up on and it was good to get doing something else for a change. There was nothing too unusual that happened there so I won't bore with details of what it is I do at work.
I did leave a little bit early from work so I could arrive home and help get the family ready for the viewing that evening. My wife and kids had spent the day taking care of a few things and my wife was concerned about a friend that works at the Obituary office of the newspapers because of some of the things that transpired. The newspaper had a misprint on Ben's obituary (actually two). One was noticeable to all as they missed the "s" in the word sister. The other wasn't so noticeable. They put the wrong month on the date of his birth. Anyway, my wife talked to Janine tonight and there was no problem with her.
Of course, I'm off track here.
We left for the funeral home and had told our kids that we would be there for about two hours, and that it wasn't an exciting thing to be at. Soon after we arrived there, our son decided that two hours is a really, really long time. There wasn't a lot of people that came, but we did talk with those that did. One that was a bit humorous for me was a group of people who worked with Ben. One of them pulled the others over to some pictures that were there of Ben and pointed at one that was Ben with his family (Father, Mother and two sisters). She said, "I didn't know that Ben had a family". I had to point out to them that it was Ben's father that they thought was Ben (he always has had an uncanny resemblance to his father). They were astounded. I later introduced my wife to them and they couldn't believe that she would be turning 50 this year. I have to admit that she does look real good.
Eight o'clock came and our son was right on us about getting out of there. We told him that we had to stay around for a few people. He couldn't stand that. He had been bothering me about leaving early anyway and to actually stay late was out of the question. We did finally leave though to promises of ice cream (it turned into a root beer float). We stopped into the store to pick up some root beer and a couple of other items.
This morning I slept in since I didn't have to be to work. There was a little bit of wash to be done and that was done. I also sat down to watch the inauguration of President Barak H. Obama. It was quite enjoyable for me to watch. He did a good job with his speech after he was sworn in too. Of course I didn't expect anything different. My prayers are with the new Presidency of the United States and I hope that all will go right. He's not my choice of President, but he is who we have to work with now that we have voted him in.
We left for the funeral home right after his speech. Our son had already been to a band practice this morning and got home by 10:00 and we were grateful that he made sure to be home on time.
There were a lot more people to the viewing just before the funeral. I had a hard time after the family prayer (which was done by Chantelle's husband Mike) watching Chantelle with her final farewell to her brother just before they closed the casket. She just broke down and sobbed. My heart (and every bodies) went out to her. What could we do, but watch? Her husband gave her a comforting hug. We then walked into the chapel (is that what its called in a Mortuary?) and had our seats. At first Chantelle and Chris were by their mother but brother Bay (from the bishopric of the third ward) told them they could sit up front. Melanie was left sitting alone. She actually gave the opening prayer of the services which I wondered how she could do that and do it so well.
The service started and Marie sang a song that she had written about leaving. It was beautiful and heart wrenching. Melanie just started to sob with her whole body shaking. I had to get up from my seat and walk to her and sit by her to put my arm around her. She loved the song, but boy did it tear her up. Marie's voice is so beautiful and she did a great job.
Next up was Chantelle. She did a wonderful job, and as expected had her moments of tears. Chris then got up to speak. He spoke completely from his heart without any notes. He too did a wonderful job. He asked for people from the audience to come up and speak. Three people (including Nathan) got up and said a few words. It was a time for more tears as well as hearing about the joy that Ben had given to all. Anne next sang Psalms 23. As usual, it was beautiful. Then Kent got up and spoke. He is the grandfather to Ben and did a wonderful job of talking about Ben and Ben's life. We then sang "God be With You till We Meet Again", and then the closing prayer by Gladys (Kent's wife and step-grandmother to Ben). Anne hummed a song that had been written after Adom's death about 10 years ago (he is a 17 year old nephew).
I got called up with the other Pall Bearers to take Ben out to the hearse. We then waited around for a bit until we needed to head to the cemetery. We were right behind the hearse. After everybody arrived we brought his body over to the final resting place. Brother Bay then called me up to dedicate the grave. I did this through the power of the Priesthood which I hold. I had written notes because I knew that I would be a bit emotional, and would forget some of the things I wanted to pray about. I think that went OK.
Once again, I was heartbroken when looking over at Chris who was in the arms of his wife being comforted. There really isn't anything you can say or do when all of this is going on.
Finally we headed over to the church (which is right next to the cemetery) and had a nice lunch of ham, funeral potatoes (talk to any Mormon and they can tell you what those are), vegetables and assorted cakes. There were also some rolls there. We had to take some of the cake home with us. Our kids wanted to stay at grandmas house, but we left and came on home anyway. We watched a movie at home and relaxed around our home for awhile.
Tonight, I took the kids to Young Men/Young Women. It was a combined activity. I really didn't want to go (and neither did my son) but we went anyway. They played Scripture Battleship. That is a game that there were questions asked that are scriptural questions and when one team gets the right answer they get five balls to try and seek the ships on the other side of the net. When somebody is hit, they are out (although they can still help answer the questions). They do have to stay where they are though once they are settled. In the end, they took down the screen between them so they could end the game a bit earlier.
Well, that's about it.
I did leave a little bit early from work so I could arrive home and help get the family ready for the viewing that evening. My wife and kids had spent the day taking care of a few things and my wife was concerned about a friend that works at the Obituary office of the newspapers because of some of the things that transpired. The newspaper had a misprint on Ben's obituary (actually two). One was noticeable to all as they missed the "s" in the word sister. The other wasn't so noticeable. They put the wrong month on the date of his birth. Anyway, my wife talked to Janine tonight and there was no problem with her.
Of course, I'm off track here.
We left for the funeral home and had told our kids that we would be there for about two hours, and that it wasn't an exciting thing to be at. Soon after we arrived there, our son decided that two hours is a really, really long time. There wasn't a lot of people that came, but we did talk with those that did. One that was a bit humorous for me was a group of people who worked with Ben. One of them pulled the others over to some pictures that were there of Ben and pointed at one that was Ben with his family (Father, Mother and two sisters). She said, "I didn't know that Ben had a family". I had to point out to them that it was Ben's father that they thought was Ben (he always has had an uncanny resemblance to his father). They were astounded. I later introduced my wife to them and they couldn't believe that she would be turning 50 this year. I have to admit that she does look real good.
Eight o'clock came and our son was right on us about getting out of there. We told him that we had to stay around for a few people. He couldn't stand that. He had been bothering me about leaving early anyway and to actually stay late was out of the question. We did finally leave though to promises of ice cream (it turned into a root beer float). We stopped into the store to pick up some root beer and a couple of other items.
This morning I slept in since I didn't have to be to work. There was a little bit of wash to be done and that was done. I also sat down to watch the inauguration of President Barak H. Obama. It was quite enjoyable for me to watch. He did a good job with his speech after he was sworn in too. Of course I didn't expect anything different. My prayers are with the new Presidency of the United States and I hope that all will go right. He's not my choice of President, but he is who we have to work with now that we have voted him in.
We left for the funeral home right after his speech. Our son had already been to a band practice this morning and got home by 10:00 and we were grateful that he made sure to be home on time.
There were a lot more people to the viewing just before the funeral. I had a hard time after the family prayer (which was done by Chantelle's husband Mike) watching Chantelle with her final farewell to her brother just before they closed the casket. She just broke down and sobbed. My heart (and every bodies) went out to her. What could we do, but watch? Her husband gave her a comforting hug. We then walked into the chapel (is that what its called in a Mortuary?) and had our seats. At first Chantelle and Chris were by their mother but brother Bay (from the bishopric of the third ward) told them they could sit up front. Melanie was left sitting alone. She actually gave the opening prayer of the services which I wondered how she could do that and do it so well.
The service started and Marie sang a song that she had written about leaving. It was beautiful and heart wrenching. Melanie just started to sob with her whole body shaking. I had to get up from my seat and walk to her and sit by her to put my arm around her. She loved the song, but boy did it tear her up. Marie's voice is so beautiful and she did a great job.
Next up was Chantelle. She did a wonderful job, and as expected had her moments of tears. Chris then got up to speak. He spoke completely from his heart without any notes. He too did a wonderful job. He asked for people from the audience to come up and speak. Three people (including Nathan) got up and said a few words. It was a time for more tears as well as hearing about the joy that Ben had given to all. Anne next sang Psalms 23. As usual, it was beautiful. Then Kent got up and spoke. He is the grandfather to Ben and did a wonderful job of talking about Ben and Ben's life. We then sang "God be With You till We Meet Again", and then the closing prayer by Gladys (Kent's wife and step-grandmother to Ben). Anne hummed a song that had been written after Adom's death about 10 years ago (he is a 17 year old nephew).
I got called up with the other Pall Bearers to take Ben out to the hearse. We then waited around for a bit until we needed to head to the cemetery. We were right behind the hearse. After everybody arrived we brought his body over to the final resting place. Brother Bay then called me up to dedicate the grave. I did this through the power of the Priesthood which I hold. I had written notes because I knew that I would be a bit emotional, and would forget some of the things I wanted to pray about. I think that went OK.
Once again, I was heartbroken when looking over at Chris who was in the arms of his wife being comforted. There really isn't anything you can say or do when all of this is going on.
Finally we headed over to the church (which is right next to the cemetery) and had a nice lunch of ham, funeral potatoes (talk to any Mormon and they can tell you what those are), vegetables and assorted cakes. There were also some rolls there. We had to take some of the cake home with us. Our kids wanted to stay at grandmas house, but we left and came on home anyway. We watched a movie at home and relaxed around our home for awhile.
Tonight, I took the kids to Young Men/Young Women. It was a combined activity. I really didn't want to go (and neither did my son) but we went anyway. They played Scripture Battleship. That is a game that there were questions asked that are scriptural questions and when one team gets the right answer they get five balls to try and seek the ships on the other side of the net. When somebody is hit, they are out (although they can still help answer the questions). They do have to stay where they are though once they are settled. In the end, they took down the screen between them so they could end the game a bit earlier.
Well, that's about it.
posted by Craig's Blog at 10:28 PM
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