Honor

Today I got to honor a man who was a very present figure in my childhood, the father of my best childhood friend.  I can honestly say I can not remember a time in which I didn't know this family.  We met when I was two.  When we entered the church for his memorial service the funeral director looked at me and asked "Are you family?"  And I couldn't answer. No we aren't blood related, but about the very closest thing to family. So we were shown a place behind the family's reserved section.  However, when the family arrived, they quickly amended the "rules" and said we were to be treated as family.

And in turn I was blessed to honor this man's memory and his family by a few words.  Several people spoke out and gave words to describe this man.  His daughters used the words gentle,  compassionate, unconditional love.  His sons-in-law used the words friend and buddy. Other family members used words such as best brother, peacemaker,not a cousin but a brother, best husband to my sister.  His friends and church members used words such as  friendly, kind, contemplative, supporter, loving.

The word I used......patient.  You see during early childhood his daughters, my sister and I were pretty much inseparable.  The four of us were usually at one house or the other.  Occasionally we'd swap sisters for a night but usually all four were together.  When you have four pre-teen girls in the house, it is bound to get loud and giggly, glittery and all the things that go with little girls.  Yet I never saw him lose his patience with any of us.  He'd round us up for stories, did you know he was once Elvis Presley's paper boy?  He showed us girls how to do things in the yard or what he was working on in his shop.  He's swing us endlessly on the swing set and watch us make snow  men or snow angels in the yard.

After the service his wife came to me and told me "Thank you for the words you said in the service.  You girls always meant a lot to him."  That was the best honor I could have received today.