Hour after hour people came and loved us and supported us. I remember finally getting out of the house and going to Wal-Mart for waterproof mascara.
One night the kids came and brought us $1800 they had collected for us. They collected this in a matter of days, from teenagers. I’m sure it was a sacrifice for a lot of them. They ended up collecting more and buying us benches and a cherry tree for our backyard. The picture in my header was taken the day they brought them.
Our Pastors went with us to the funeral home to make plans for the service. Picking out the casket was horrible and I broke down. People shouldn’t have to do this for their child. I pulled myself together and looked around. It had to be wood. Then I started asking myself and Tom questions, very matter of factly.
“Do we want a matte finish or shiny?” – Matte
“What type of wood?'”- Oak
I don’t remember the other questions, we just got the job done.
When they asked about pallbearers, I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t want these boys to have to do something like that. I believe those boys did a lot of growing up that week. I am so proud of them.
Visitation was on a Wednesday night. The funeral director said there were around 800 people that came through that night, people we went to high school with, Peyton’s little league and traveling baseball team coaches…………a lot of people, a lot of teenagers. After visitation, I heard that the kids were going to a local church. I wanted to go. Tom and I went and listened. The boy (Mason) that had arranged the service was a Senior in high school. His college aged brother (Mikell) had just gone to Heaven the week before. Peyton had ask if he could go to Mikell’s funeral. I didn’t let him. Maybe I should have, I don’t know. I do know that Mikell was there to greet Peyton when he got to Heaven. It was difficult to sit and listen to the kids. They were hurting, but they were helping each other. I am so proud of them.
3 comments:
I can't imagine having to pick out the casket and plan a funeral. My brother Jim, Blake's 22 year old son, and Blake's wife picked out the casket for him. I couldn't have done that. Reading this has brought back so many emotions. Thanks for sharing this.
I remember picking out the casket. We chose wood too.. it was either that or that silvery blue color. And for some reason, I hated that. There aren't many choices for little ones. I did fine through all of that, mainly b/c it was just looking at pictures in a book. Not walking around in a room full of them. (I've done that in dealing with my parents) I lost it when they brought me a small curl of Bub's hair in a very small baggie. I just stared at it and cried. Yes.. it's all very hard. I'm so glad you had such amazing support!
such sadness. such grief. such difficulty.
(((hugs)))
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