As I sat in my parents house trying to understand the fact that I had JUST found out my Father had died, people began to arrive. First it was my Mom's younger brother, my Uncle Tom and his wife, my Aunt Nancy. He immediately went to my Mom and I heard her cry out as he gathered her in his arms and hugged her tight. He had just lost his brother in law and he and my Dad were close. My Dad was a part of my Mom's family for more than 40 years and the lines of in laws and blood relative had become blurry many years before.
Soon the driveway began to fill up with more members of our family. Some of my cousins came, another Aunt and my Dad's brother and his wife. It was amazing how people just came runninwhen they knew what happened and didn't know what else to do. We hugged, talked, cried and waited for the funeral home to come. Some people needed a task, picking up water, making phone calls or making plans - while some people were content to just hug and support my Mom.
It took what seemed like several hours for the funeral home to show up and it felt as if we were in limbo just waiting. Having those that we love near us during those hours was comforting and even distracting at times. We were all in shock and no one knew what the right thing to say was but just being together and proving comfort was helpful.
My Dad might have been gone already but his spirit was among us that night.
No comments:
Post a Comment