Not long ago, my husband and I attended a funeral of a friend, who had been
killed by a car while riding his Harley motorcycle. His name was
Don Burns. He was a wonderful husband, father, brother, son and friend. He was
taken from us without warning, in an instant.
No one had a chance to say “Good bye” or “I love you.”
It was amazing to see the number of people that filled the church to remember
Don and comfort his family. My heart broke as I sat there listening to friends
and family members (including his only daughter) share stories of his life, and
what kind of impact he had on their own.
I gazed upon the photograph of the young man of 42 years, placed in the front of
the congregation, with two lit candles embracing the frame. The realization of
the frailty of mortal life pressed hard upon my soul.
There was no music except for the heart-wrenching sounds of one man playing
AMAZING GRACE on his bagpipes. The beautiful floral arrangements in the
background appeared to hold their breath as we listened. When the last note died
away, silence filled the air. For a moment, it felt as if time had stopped.
At one point, Don’s brother stood and spoke of the last events and conversations
that occurred before Don's death. He ended with "Don't let a day go by without
telling your family and friends how much they mean to you ... How much you love
them ... It may be your last chance to do so. Let the petty things go, and make
the most of what matters."
I looked at my husband, Mark, and noticed tears welling in his eyes. I knew the
words had touched his heart also. We silently recalled the many days of trifle
arguments in the past, when we allowed the sun to go down on our anger, before
making right what was wrong. There was an acute awareness hitting us both: “What
if we had not been given another day to fix it?”
I reached over and gently placed my hand in his, feeling the warmth of his life
flowing through my own, as tears fell from our eyes. We didn't have to speak at
that moment. It was clear that we heard each other's heart. And I closed my
eyes, and softly mouthed the words of prayer, "Thank you Lord."
The “Here today and gone tomorrow” truism weighed heavily, as I watched
Don’s only child lift her Daddy's photograph, and clutch it to her chest
tightly, as if by this small gesture, she could hold onto him forever. His wife,
Gina, of 25 years, lovingly put her arm around her daughter, and an amazing
sense of strength seemed to radiate from the two of them. All the memories,
laughter, tears and love were being tenderly tucked away in their hearts. They
had invested well, and in the end, held onto treasures of time.
Finally, the flames of the candles were extinguished. The light was gone. Slowly
the room, where, for the last hour, a man's life had been retold, revisited and
revived, began to empty. The flowers were carried out, as family and friends
clung to one another, weeping, comforting and praying. It was over.
Because our dear friend, Don, was to be cremated, there was no graveside
ceremony. The many biker friends, who had come to say goodbye to this young
Christian comrade, all started their motorcycles in unison. The rest of us just
stood there motionless while the stifling sound of the engines faded slowly into
the air as they rode off together. Goodbye my friend.
It was a sunny March day and yet darkness was inevitably going to fall.
Walking hand in hand back to our car to go to Don's home with the family, my
husband and I stepped in unison. We looked at each other, smiled and said,
"I love you." We vowed, never again, to let a day go by without those words
being expressed to each other and the ones that mean so much to us. We knew we
had been given a sweet and tender gift of a lifetime in becoming man and wife,
and that gift needed to be nurtured.
Life has now taken on a deeper meaning for me. I reflected on the fact, that the
older we got, the more funerals we would probably attend. The days seemed to go
by faster, and the hours have moved swiftly. Too much time has been wasted on
trivialities.
Many words have crossed our eyes to remind us of the brevity of life and the
need to express our love and tenderness to those around us, but have we really
heard the message? Death is the one thing that speaks volumes to our hearts.
So when the last day comes for one of us to leave this life, may feelings of
regret be far from us. May our hearts and minds be filled with sweet memories of
laughter and fullness, and may we close our eyes at the end of the day, knowing
that we gave more than we took. May the tears fall that day, only because we
loved them and missed them, not because we missed the chance to actually show it
or say it.
For now, may we be thankful ... for just one more day.
Ginger Boda Rhymerbabe@aol.com
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.