March 17, 2015

• Tom and I both were born and grew up in Calif. where funerals were different from in the Midwest. There was no viewing and no calling. If you wanted to see the body you had to go to the mausoleum. If you wanted to see the family, you either went to the house or talked to them after the service. We lived here in IN. long enough to become Hoosiers, so we wanted to have at least a calling. Besides that, I think he knew everyone in town. There are  many names in the guest book, and I don't have the least idea who a lot of them are. It helped when they added something to their names, such as friends of which family members, or from the bank where he went often.

  Thursday's schedule. Family met at 10 am at the funeral home for private viewing. 11 am......drive to the cemetery.  Noon....to the church for lunch prepared by church ladies. 3 pm.......calling at the church.  7 pm.....Memorial service, also at the church. The service was not long, just a few minutes under an hour. The prelude consisted of hymns on piano and organ. The only music during the service was a video of a beautiful hymn sent to us by a friend just a couple of days before. The name is "It is not death to die." I think he would have liked it, even though he didn't like what he called canned music. We didn't sing any hymns, because I knew we would cry. When the service was over, the pianist and organist played  "Cheer up, ye saints of God." Tom learned it from his father, who learned it from his Scottish father. He would sing it for others, only if he really felt like it, and really wanted to. He sang it with a Scottish brogue. Some of the older children sang along with the music as we were being escorted out.

  Sometimes during memorial services at our church, they let people in the congregation share memories. We didn't do that, because it makes the service last too long. We told the pastor that Tom used to say "He needs to learn to land that plane" when the sermon lasted too long. So it was brief. We did have 2 special friends share their thoughts. 2 of our pastors also read e-mails and letters from around the world, including some from Africa. It was a special time.

  
  Our family at the funeral home.  Dress was casual for the family time, as it was very cold, but as you can see, some dressed up anyway.

  • 10:52 pm
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