I
got to have one of those special “DadDad” moments one-on-one with one of my
grandchildren yesterday. We drove up to
Willis to attend a funeral. As it
happened, Josh and his family were there as well. The service got started and almost
immediately Luke got antsy. Not out of
control, mind you. Just wiggly. Josh finally got up to carry him out, so I
volunteered to receive the Luke hand-off so Josh could stay in the
service. We both thought Luke would
drift off fairly quickly since it was his nap time anyway. Well …
He
did stay in my arms for a good five minutes, but I think it suddenly hit him
that he was about to fall asleep and there were all sorts of new surrounding
that he had yet to explore and conquer.
He jerked himself awake and the nap was ancient history. We walked around the funeral home for a long
time, but that soon lost out in its allure.
The fountain he could see outside was beckoning. So I did what any self-respecting grandfather
would have done. I took him
outside.
The
fountain was fun … for all of fifteen or twenty seconds. But sensory overload got the best of him. We needed to take a walk. And what better place to take a two-year-old
for a walk than a cemetery? Now Luke is
a very kind child. And helpful. We straightened vases of flowers that had
fallen over. We played respectfully with
a hot wheels car that someone had left on a gravestone. We put it back exactly where we found
it. We did not pick up the pretty rocks
or the St. Christopher medal on another gravestone. Those were just too special to disturb. Oh, but we saw a lot of “Ho, Ho, Ho.” That would be translated “images of Santa
Claus on tiny little grave-sized Christmas trees.” There are some elaborate decorations for tiny
little Christmas trees. I had no
idea.
As
we reached the “back forty” just beyond the cemetery proper, Luke desperately wanted
to play in the mud. And there was a lot
of it. Problem was, ever little pile of
mud was actually a heavily disguised ant bed.
Not a scenario I cared to be a part of.
But he finally found a Luke-sized Moses stick to carry around. Man after my own heart.
The
funeral finally ended and we began to see folks filing out of the building, so
we made our way back. Luke never slowed
down until he was strapped into his car seat.
We stopped at Chick-Fil-A for a quick supper before heading home. It was just about two minutes away from the
funeral home. Josh and his crew stopped
there as well. And in that two minute
drive Luke had fallen sound asleep. Ah,
to be two again. It took me at least
twenty minutes to fall asleep …
1
Peter 3:3-4 says, “Your beauty should not
come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold
jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the
unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.”
Father,
walk with the family as they work through their grief. Thank you that Johnny knew you well. Welcome him into your presence. Amen.
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