Some of you asked for a copy of the words I gave at Grandpa's burial service. Here they are in the unabridged format...of course the reading might have differed at parts because it was tough to keep my hands from shaking and my eyes from tearing up. All my love and comfort to all of you...already the sun has started to shine on my life again and I feel Grandpa's comforting spirit in my life. See most of you on Easter!!!!
It is hard to find comfort or strength in the midst of the loss of such a great man. However, rest assured that Grandpa has departed this world and is resting now with our Father. Even now he is smiling down upon us all and giving every bit of his strength to us in an attempt to bolster our spirits and ease our pain at his departure. The passing of great men is always marked with sadness and a fond remembrance of those things he left behind in our hearts. Our family has learned that there is no ailment that a good dog can’t cure, that as long as the floor mat doesn’t slip through the floor of your car then it’s good for another year, and that burnt orange is always in season.
But these humorous examples aren’t the things that will stick with us, they aren’t the ideals that we will pass on to our children. No, it will be his selfless compassion, unconditional love, and generous spirit that we will remember for generations. For as long as I can remember Grandpa has been our sanctuary, our lighthouse in the storm of life, and our bastion of all that we love. Irregardless of our condition upon entering Grandma and Grandpa’s home, we knew there would be a welcoming embrace awaiting us. He accepted all, loved all, and forgave all.
It is important to acknowledge that we would not be here today were it not for grandpa and his tremendous love. The phrase “all because two people fell in love” has never been better articulated by the gathering of people here today. Each and every one of us has enjoyed the blessed life we have lived because of Grandpa, he is and always will be our cornerstone upon which this family has been built. In the midst of the great sorrow that is in my heart I can’t help but reach for comfort from our Father and he provides it in his word.
In the past few weeks I have prayed, thought, and meditated on the word legacy. Our legacy is the mark of who we are, what about us is different, what parts of us will live on after we have departed this earth. Christ was intimately aware of his legacy; every action he took was intentionally building toward a definition of his legacy. You see Christ understood that only so much of his legacy would be under his control; there was only so much he could do during his life on earth. Ultimately, his legacy may have been lost in that closed up room in Jerusalem…but yet he trusted his followers to carry his legacy.
Grandpa left us with many gifts but the greatest of these is his legacy that he entrusted to us. You see it is our responsibility to carry forward that legacy with love, bravery, and a passionate belief in it’s power. It will be our duty to teach our children and our children’s children the very things that make our family so great, the very things that we cherished and now miss about our beloved grandfather. Our every interaction from this moment forward is a reflection of the man grandpa was, in essence our lives will serve as grandpa’s legacy.
Using their passionate belief and fervent love, Christ’s followers created a legacy that has spanned thousands of years across an entire planet. The power of legacy is unmeasureable and if in the midst of our sorrow and our pain if we turn in towards our responsibility of maintaining grandpa’s legacy then I am confident we can create such a legacy that will be remembered for generations to come. That “our” grandchildren will be remembered for their compassion, their love, and their selflessness and that those traits came from the man whom we say good bye to today would be the most powerful gift we could give our grandfather.
He was a man without equal… and he will be missed but never forgotten, forever carried in our hearts and our lives. Please pray with me.
Father. We come to you fresh with grief at the departing of the cornerstone of our family, the man who made Christmas twinkle with his smile, made us laugh at Easter with his acrobatics, and made us cherish this beautiful place. We ask that you lift us up and bless us today as we have lost him who brought us strength, him who was our foundation, and him who we loved with all that we had. We ask that you comfort us now and help us to look forward as grandpa would have wanted us to; to look forward to the horizon and see that the sun is shining brightly on our family. Allow us to see the many blessings that grandpa bestowed upon us in life so that we may bestow one upon him in heaven, his legacy. Help us to honor his love and compassion with our very lives. Thank you for your gift of life everlasting. May you smile down upon us this day father, with grandpa at your side, watching over us, protecting us, delighting in our presence…In the name of Jesus Christ we pray…Amen
