This week I witnessed the three stages of life.
This week I celebrated a birth, a life, and a death.
It started with the birth of a baby girl. Six weeks early and oh, so small. So fragile entering this world, but loved by everyone.
Then came a marriage. Young, happy, beautiful people who stood before their God and their family and swore themselves to one another. We danced, sang, drank and ate. Celebrated the birth of a new stage of life. Congratulated a couple on 56 years of marriage. (56!)
And sadly, last, came a death. The death of a good man. A father, husband, son, grandfather, and friend. I did not know him long, but I could tell he was well loved. He left behind so many amazing people who stand in the brilliance of his memory.
Now, I say 'celebrated', but some may think, 'death is not a celebration'.
That is where you are wrong.
From birth, to whatever life you choose to lead, to death is all a celebration. Each stage should be celebrated.
A funeral is not just the mourning. It is the celebration of a life. It says 'look at the life this person lived, how grand! How fulfilled'. You share memories and music, the good times and the bad. Yes, there are tears and sorrow, a clenching ache that reminds you they are never coming back. However, there is a joy in remembering their life.
From their birth, from every moment in their life, to death, there is a joy in that remembrance.
I read a book when I was younger and an old Irish man said to his daughter:
'It is the job of the living, to remember those who are not.'
So remember and celebrate.
This week I celebrated a birth, a life, and a death.
It started with the birth of a baby girl. Six weeks early and oh, so small. So fragile entering this world, but loved by everyone.
Then came a marriage. Young, happy, beautiful people who stood before their God and their family and swore themselves to one another. We danced, sang, drank and ate. Celebrated the birth of a new stage of life. Congratulated a couple on 56 years of marriage. (56!)
And sadly, last, came a death. The death of a good man. A father, husband, son, grandfather, and friend. I did not know him long, but I could tell he was well loved. He left behind so many amazing people who stand in the brilliance of his memory.
Now, I say 'celebrated', but some may think, 'death is not a celebration'.
That is where you are wrong.
From birth, to whatever life you choose to lead, to death is all a celebration. Each stage should be celebrated.
A funeral is not just the mourning. It is the celebration of a life. It says 'look at the life this person lived, how grand! How fulfilled'. You share memories and music, the good times and the bad. Yes, there are tears and sorrow, a clenching ache that reminds you they are never coming back. However, there is a joy in remembering their life.
From their birth, from every moment in their life, to death, there is a joy in that remembrance.
I read a book when I was younger and an old Irish man said to his daughter:
'It is the job of the living, to remember those who are not.'
So remember and celebrate.
