The Best Memories
Funerals are never a pleasant experience as you anticipate going and think of the hurt and loss you know you'll feel for the family. Yet, funerals are inevitable and we do go to them, and how many times on the ride home do we say it was good to see someone again or get to visit with another person? Of course, we wish it could be under different circumstances, yet the circumstances created the opportunity. I had the opportunity to attend a funeral in the past week and feel the impact of the experience is going to last a lot longer than usual for me.
The funeral was for my uncle Andy, one of my many uncles who are also great friends, examples, and heroes. As I walked past the casket, there did not seem to be a need for tears. Uncle Andy was 84, lived a wonderful, full life, and all that could come to my mind was the many, many smiles he had caused so many people to have through the years, including me. We took a seat a few rows behind the family, and as I observed the rows of aunts and uncles sitting in front of me with every head much grayer and bodies a bit more frail from the years, I knew each one had a special place in each other's hearts and in mine. Then my attention focused on the end of one of the rows where my mom and dad sat ... I felt very fortunate. The next hour was a whirl of thoughts and memories in my head, only to be interrupted by an occasional stand up and sit down of the funeral service. At the conclusion when we were asked to stand up once more, it was mentioned that Uncle Andy's son, Michael, had written and recorded a song on the evening his father died, and the service would be concluded with the playing of that recording. The sniffs and waves of Kleenex that followed spoke to me that each person in that room was feeling more than mere appreciation for Michael's words and music and even his love and admiration for his father. It was that each of us was being drawn to a place that we could reflect on what our own fathers meant to us. Our own experience gave meaning to the words in the song, "The swell of pride dispels the dark, knowing that I came from you...."
It is clear that in life's frenzied pace we somehow can place the most important things way too low on the priority list and allow those things with little or no significance to crowd their way to the top. It was good to be reminded of this once more and it certainly made the ride home after the funeral, lunch and visiting much more meaningful than the drive there.In the spirit of Father's Day, Michael Krupar has allowed us to share the song he wrote and if you take the time to listen and read the words in the video, you may see that it was not only written for Uncle Andy but somehow also for you and me.
- Jim Paluch
| Dear Old Man | |||
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 of all ages. . . Happy Father's Day!
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