Matt, Elizabeth’s
husband came in town, and I went outside to talk to him. I wanted to tell him the difficult time ahead
of figuring out what to say or not say to Elizabeth. I remember just bottling up all my emotions
from my family and releasing those emotions by crying in my bed at night. As we were talking, he got choked up and told
me how much it meant to him that I was there for Elizabeth; at the time he was
out of town. I told him it was a
privilege for me to be there and minister to everyone!
Claudia, a cousin,
came over and mentioned she wanted to see Uncle Jim at the funeral home; she
wanted to say her goodbyes. He was going
to be cremated and there was not going to be a viewing. Elizabeth and I also wanted to go. Aunt June and Kimberly did not want to go and
Elizabeth explained to her mom that it was important for people to be able to
see him if they wanted to.
We decided to see
him the next morning before the family met with the funeral home to go over the
plans for the funeral. Elizabeth,
Claudia, I, and two family friends (Missy and Ashlee) came. It was very informal; Elizabeth told the
funeral home that he did not need to be in a casket. They told us before we went into see him that
he was laying on a table with a sheet up to his chest. They did not want us to be surprised.
He was in a very
small room that they typically used to put makeup on people. The room had a static atmosphere but did not
deter us from the warm family memories that were shared. We stood around the table and shared
different memories that came to our minds.
We said our goodbyes, and I kissed him on the forehead before I
left. I want to be the last person out
of the room, and as I closed the door behind me, I told him I would see him in
Heaven.
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