Friday, August 6, 2010

A Celebration of Life--August 6, 2010

Woke up to the noise of my roommate moving out.  I never did fall back asleep.  I imagine that was around 6:30.  My alarm finally went off at 7:05.  I just lay there.  What to do?!  I seriously went back and forth, back and forth.  Finally, at 7:14, I jumped out of bed and said I'm goin'.  I took a quick shower, grabbed a quick breakfast, and waited for my sister to show up.

Boogs, Casey, Angela, and I all headed there in the same car.  It was a pretty enjoyable ride up there, though admittedly I was struggling.  I was soooooooooooo tired.  I didn't wake up refreshed at all.  I grabbed a tall 24-oz of coffee from a gas station, but it didn't seem to be working.  We talked about a lot of stuff on the way up there.  Tithing, windmills, songs.  The trip went pretty quickly.

We made a quick stop at McDonald's, then dropped in for the visitation at 11:00.  We zipped through the short line, then checked out the body.  I'm always mesmerized by the body.  It's so...lifeless.  I know it's crazy to say, but a man can learn a ton by just staring at a dead body.  So much of life starts coming together.  I looked for a good bit but didn't want to make it awkward.  We then sat down.  Agh, we had 2 hours to kill!!!

The time went by pretty slowly.  I would just stare at the various people and how they responded to going through the line.  The college girls definitely took it hardest.  No way around it.  They knew how to cry.  Weep.  Oddly enough, and this is the honest truth, one of the reasons why I came today was just to watch how people handle death.  I've been to several funerals, but I'm just mesmerized by them.  And especially when it's someone that I know.  Not that I enjoy them, but again, you just learn so much about life, humans, people, yourself, by going to a funeral.

Around noon, the church started getting full.  And I started getting ornery.  I had a very light demeanor, and it seemed to be ok.  As the church filled up, more and more people talked, and it was more of a get-together than a funeral, it seemed.  As 12:30 came around, the church was almost full.  But the line still stretched outdoors.  Once 12:45 came around, they closed down the visitation line and just had people file in.  There wasn't enough room.  They had people in the middle aisle, every pew packed and tight, and the outside aisles filled up.  There was standing room only, and even then, they had people all the way back down the outer hallway all the way to outside.  I would guess a few hundred people showed up.

The service itself was actually unlike anything I coudl have expected.  They didn't call it a funeral, but rather, "A Celebration of Life."  And that's exactly what they did.  They praised Kerstin's personality, walk with the LORD, and kindness.  I kid you not, at one point, we had a standing ovation for her life.  At a funeral!  We were all standing and cheering this young woman's life!  It was mildly awkward, yet at the same time, it was just right.  The more the people talked, the more one realized that it really was an honor to have known this woman.  She had a zest for life, a passion for people.  Frankly, it was HARD to mourn!  I think that was probably a downfall (we DO need to mourn!), but in the same breath, you just couldn't help but get excited about knowing this woman!  WE had the privilege of knowing her.  She was a blessing to us.  And she did her duty.  23 years of obedience to her Master.

I kid you not, it was just unlike anything I've ever been a part of.  They mentioned that there should be weeping and tears, but they just negated all of that with the praise of her life.  Of her love.  I seriously felt like everyone there were the ones who benefitted by knowing her.  She obviously touched each one in a particular way.  It was just hard to be sad!!!  Almost impossible!!! 

It was definitely a day of hope.

We left around 3:00, made a quick stop at Walgreens for snacks, and made the long 3-hour drive back home.  I was now officially worthless.  My lack of sleep the last two nights just caught up with me.  I was nearly falling asleep there in the car.  The rest were kind of quiet, too, and it was just a totally different feel on the way home!  We were all so tired!

Finally got back home about 6:10.  I immediately headed out back to assess my door situtation.  I changed clothes and was working on my shed within a few minutes of being dropped off.  I ended up making the cuts for the door.  But I was pretty exhausted.  And I didn't have the necessary trim pieces I needed.  So I went ahead and loaded everything back in the garage.  At least the doors are cut now.  Just a matter of "building" them up and attaching them.  But I was in no position to do it tonight.

I went ahead and weeded my tomatoes, watered them, then mowed my back yard.  Several of the tomato plants have just taken off this past week.  They are looking good!  Some of them.  Others?  Not so much.  But I'm excited!  I was dragging as I mowed, though.  I was just beat.  I think I could've fallen asleep while walking.

Ended up finishing up the back yard, then coming inside.  Stayed inside the rest of the evening.  I gave the girl from last night a call.  And we're plannin' on gettin' together tomorrow sometime.  She told me about her pretty neat job working in finances.  And how she has worked with dairy cows, pigs, and horses.  If that isn't the most attractive thing out there, I just don't know what is.  Pretty eager to meet her.

Went to bed absolutely and totally exhausted at 11:00.  Plannin' on wakin' up at 8:00 and having the shed done by noon.  At least with the wood work.  Then I can fill it up and paint it either tomorrow afternoon or Sunday.  So ready to be done with it!

No comments:

Post a Comment