funeral
My uncle Eric from D.C. passed away on Valentines Day.
I just got back from his funeral, was gone 4 days, and I can hnestly say those 4 days where very very fun, difficult, strange, and new.
I've never dealt with a death before, other than a hampster and a fish my experiences with something or someone passing away have been very limited, so to have an uncle pass away was a pretty hard hitting experience.
For a majority of the time it was easy to be strong, everyone would speak of Eric in all the positive ways they remembered him while he was alive. His wife, monica, would make references to him, how he would have dealt with a sitation, and even recalled his last words without shedding a tear, yet when it came time to say goodbye, when his souless body was wheeled in front of me and the choir began singing amazing grace... i lost it.
i felt like the pain of everyone came washing over me, the few memories I had of this distant uncle, who married into the family all came forth, as few as they where, at that moment they washed over me and I started crying. I have never cried that much before.....frankly I'm sure many of those people that where there had never cried that much before. One good thing about living in DC is that you get to know many many many people, and alot of them came out to say good bye.
I still have many mixed feelings about all that occured, but one thing that I was forced to face,the question of the afterlife was very clearly shown to me throughout that mass, that while I may be confused about many aspects of my religion right now, I do believe there is an afterlife and that the end of our existance here is the beginning of something new and exillerating in the afterlife.
I just got back from his funeral, was gone 4 days, and I can hnestly say those 4 days where very very fun, difficult, strange, and new.
I've never dealt with a death before, other than a hampster and a fish my experiences with something or someone passing away have been very limited, so to have an uncle pass away was a pretty hard hitting experience.
For a majority of the time it was easy to be strong, everyone would speak of Eric in all the positive ways they remembered him while he was alive. His wife, monica, would make references to him, how he would have dealt with a sitation, and even recalled his last words without shedding a tear, yet when it came time to say goodbye, when his souless body was wheeled in front of me and the choir began singing amazing grace... i lost it.
i felt like the pain of everyone came washing over me, the few memories I had of this distant uncle, who married into the family all came forth, as few as they where, at that moment they washed over me and I started crying. I have never cried that much before.....frankly I'm sure many of those people that where there had never cried that much before. One good thing about living in DC is that you get to know many many many people, and alot of them came out to say good bye.
I still have many mixed feelings about all that occured, but one thing that I was forced to face,the question of the afterlife was very clearly shown to me throughout that mass, that while I may be confused about many aspects of my religion right now, I do believe there is an afterlife and that the end of our existance here is the beginning of something new and exillerating in the afterlife.