March 5 – “Taking Josh Home?”

Hearing the sounds of a three year old and a one year as they wake up in the morning is fun when you're the grandparent and don't have to worry about the morning routine of potties and diapers and preparing breakfast.  Caleb and I had a DadDad breakfast session.  I held him and he ate half a banana.  He ate some blueberry muffin when Chris came in, but the banana definitely won out.  So far his two favorite words around here are "Hey!" and "Dat!"  Each has had a multitude of definitions from his Mom depending on the context.    I got up to the school much later than usual today.  Things just seem to be moving in slow motion.  I met with the president of the Oldham Little Church Foundation.  We have applied for a grant from them to help finish up our building.  Come to find out, our building guy, Hutch, is very close friend with him, so they talked about family and old times.  That left me to entertain the ther guy who was with him, Stuart Morris.  That's a name anybody who went to HBU should at least be familiar with.  He was 90 years old, and one of the funniest guys I've talked to in a long time.  He told story after story until they got into their car and drove away.  I don't know if we'll get the grant, but I sure got a kick out of talking to him.   This afternoon I got a call from Josh Stone's Mom.  His ashes were ready to be picked up at the funeral home.  We talked about it yesterday.  Chris and I said we would go pick them up if they wanted us to.  They wanted us to.  We had to drive out to the Stone's house in Santa Fe first, to pick up a signed release form indicating it was OK for us to receive the remains for them.  I would simply have to show ID.  We took along some more food that had been left for them at the church.  We dropped off the food, talked for a long time, and finally we all had to take a deep breath and say "It's time."    The funeral home folks were very helpful, once again.  They said again that they were highly impressed with the crowd, both at the service and the viewing.  Not just with the numbers, which were phenomenal.  It was also the behavior on all counts – children and teenagers included.  They said it was a testament to the church, the family and the community.  Yes, it was.    After dealing with all the paperwork, we received the simple white bag containing the plain white box.  It was a different moment from any we have had up to now.  At first we tried to ease the tension with, "Shall we put him in a seatbelt?"  Ultimately we just said, "OK, Josh, let's go home."   When we drove up, one more rather unusual thing happened that caused us to smile.  We have been to the house every day for a week now.  But this evening, for the first time, we were greeted at the car.  By Bella, Josh's dog.  It sure seemed appropriate to me.  I petted her a bit.  We carried the bag in quietly, with no fanfare at all, and placed it in the spot Jim and Laura had told us about before.  Laura watched me with a careful eye, and when we made eye contact, she mouthed, "Thank you."    The Stones will be fine.  They still face some emotional moments.  Deciding how to incorporate Josh's physical remains into their day to day life as a family may be tough for awhile.  But they know.  Taking Josh home?  No.  Josh is already Home, has been for a week now.  And he never left their hearts.   Psalms 84:3-4 says "Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young — a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.  4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you."   Father, thank you for that great time we will have in your house praising you.  Amen.