The Funeral

Today was the funeral for our neighbor's mother. My husband was honored to be asked to officiate. A few days ago the family came over to go over funeral arrangements with my hubby. And as we all sat around the dining room table, chatting about memories and making plans, my three girls sat quietly nearby and listened. I am so thankful that they have had this experience. They have asked about a billion questions since then, and we've tried to the best of our ability to answer them all honestly. We debated about bringing them to the funeral or not...and finally decided that this was a good opportunity to introduce them to this side of ministry. And so, at home, I tried to prepare them for all that they were about to experience. My oldest was the most concerned about going...at first, she really didn't want to. But after I assured her that we would just sit in the back and quietly observe, she was a little more at ease about going. But still somewhat reserved. And my sweet Jilly...so oblivious to life passing her by! She didn't seem to care either way....until we got there. When we stepped into the funeral home there were two kind gentlemen waiting to hang our coats up. And while I was handing them all my children's jackets, I hear a little, high pitched voice shriek, "OH, THAT'S GROSS!!" And as I turned, I realized that little, high pitched, shrill voice was that of my own offspring. Jillian stood, mortified by what she was looking at. I had no idea that they would place the casket directly in the view of the room entrance....and opened, no less (the casket...and the door). I so hoped that no one heard that little voice, but as we all know, funerals are an extremely hushed event. Fortunately for us, there was another doorway to the room, which I quickly ushered my little family towards. I had to quickly teach her proper funeral etiquette, which included a mini-lesson on how it's rude to walk into the room with her hand covering her eyes. Once we sat down, I was able to have a bit of a whispered conversation with her and made sure all was well. And it soon was. I think she just needed a minute to process all that she was seeing.
After the funeral was over (all fifteen minutes of it!), I took the girls to the car and Jillian announced to me, "That wasn't as bad as I thought, mom!" I was relieved that I hadn't traumatized her for life. They all still had many more questions that we patiently answered and then that was that. I really am grateful for the little experiences in life that we get to share with our girls...even if they're sometimes awkward and yet slightly amusing! Looking through the eyes of a child is always interesting and entertaining...