another funeral

This time- the deceased was the father of a doctor at my husband's hospital. He was visiting his doctor daughter from the old country and succumbed to cancer. They are an Orthodox family, but their ethnic group is not represented in our community, so my husband helped them with the service at the funeral home. The other services will be at their Orthodox church in his country.

Our big girls helped me with the responses and then sang their 'go-to' funeral song, a pretty secular song (from a poem by Christina Rossetti) they learned in choir that works in any faith situation. I was proud of my oldest who powered through her personal feelings of loss (it has been ten years since we lost a very special family member and her godmother died almost two years ago) to sing the song. Our second daughter is less outwardly sensitive, but still....the widow was happy with the special touch. Our little girl behaved in her stroller and our four year old boy was at preschool. I was happy that he could miss the open casket. In our 'line of work' we see a lot of grief and I don't want the kids to get too morbid.

	Remember- Christina Rossetti
	Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land; When you can no more hold me by the hand, Nor I half turn to go, yet turning stay. Remember me when no more day by day You tell me of our future that you plann'd: Only remember me; you understand It will be late to counsel then or pray. Yet if you should forget me for a while And afterwards remember, do not grieve: For if the darkness and corruption leave A vestige of the thoughts that once I had, Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.