We made it to the Dr. Pepper museum in Dublin, Texas yesterday with just minutes to spare. The final tour began at 4:15, and we walked in at 4:05. That's cutting it close. At least it would be if the tour had been anything particularly spectacular. Don't get me wrong. It was interesting. And they did give us a free Dr. Pepper. There just wasn't much to it. The "bottling plant" was a two-room warehouse kind of thing with one huge machine apparatus in it. It wasn't operating, though. If I understood him correctly, they only turn it on once a week or so. On Wednesdays. It takes eight people to operate it most efficiently, but they can do it with five. The museum was in three tiny rooms with Dr. Pepper paraphernalia cluttering the walls and shelves. That was way more interesting than the bottling plant. The history lesson was fascinating as well. Even down to the part where one of the spectators asked about the big lawsuit Dr. Pepper has filed against them to stop them from using the name Dublin Dr. Pepper. The gift shop had just about every kind of DP engraved stuff you could want. They were even selling old empty quart bottles with Roger Staubach's picture on it. Ten bucks. I passed.
Last night we went to the family "pay-your-respects" time at the funeral home. It's sometimes called a viewing, but they had the casket closed for this one. My friend's mother was a believer and had lived a long and full life, so the family was doing very well. It was one of those fun, family, get reacquainted times. There was some talk, though, about how they had just established a family cemetery a year ago, and they have had to use it already three times. That has to be a little disconcerting to them.
Speaking of disconcerting. At one of the lulls when Chris and I were by ourselves in the hallway and our friends were off greeting other family members, one of the mourners from another viewing came out of their room and motioned for the funeral home attendant. As it happened, they met just a few feet from where we were standing. The mourner very quietly expressed a concern she was having about the body of her loved one. She said it appeared as if he had a runny nose. Apparently some of the embalming fluid was leaking. The funeral home rep reassured her that all was well, and said she would be in shortly to deal with the situation. Now, with my terrible hearing, I didn't hear the conversation. And perhaps that is just as well. When Chris told me what had been said, I was filled with – how shall I say this – mixed emotions. I wanted to be mindful of the graveness of the situation and respond with concern and assurance as had the funeral home attendant. On the other hand, the images that filled my mind made it very difficult not to explode with laughter. I confess that I did consider walking casually into that room to see it for myself, but when Chris realized my intentions she absolutely would not allow it. Disconcerting. Most disconcerting.
Proverbs 26:21 says, "As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife."
Father, walk with the Wilson family through this third funeral in less than a year. Thank you for the faith of his mother that gives them all encouragement. Amen.
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