I attended a very unique funeral yesterday. It was not the usual funeral. There was grief and there was mourning. But moreover, there was a celebration of life. Rob was a very down to earth person. He loved hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and most importantly his family. He and his wife had discussed the funeral in great detail and they had very specific ideas about how they wanted everything. The viewing room contained many side tables. Each table was covered with either picture frames or picture albums of Rob’s life. Through each and every photo, his love of his family and his country showed through. From his days in the Boy Scouts through his time in the service, from his days as a newlywed through his days as a father and grandfather, each picture, each moment is filled with his love for life. There was a viewing room sit up that had a TV which played non-stop video of pictures of him with his family. The music selected were country songs that meant something to him and his wife, such as Garth Brooks and The Dance. When it came time for the funeral, the initial song was a love song “I’ll Keep on Loving You” by Reba McEntire that his wife had played to honor the memory of their life together. That was followed by Brad Paisley singing The Old Rugged Cross. The preacher spoke a few words then his oldest son did the eulogy. It was a wonderful tribute to his father and the man he was. It gave you a great feeling of love that runs deep throughout the family. Then Rob’s best friend since his teens spoke. The preacher closed with a few more words and Amazing Grace with bagpipes was played. Though I walked away with tear-filled eyes and a deep grief in my heart for the loss of a very special brother-in-law but with the wonderful feeling of knowing he had spent every minute of those 49 short years loving his family and leaving them a living legacy of the type of person they wanted to be.
