The funeral and burial are over. Today family and friends paid their final respects and bid an earthly farewell to Wendy's mom. It was an exceptionally beautiful day today and so much of our family were all present for the visitation, mass and burial. I was so proud of my daughter Elizabeth who delivered a beautiful eulogy. Our pastor Fr. Ken Allen made sure we had a beautiful liturgy planned. Lynn's nieces, Trudy & Susan read readings from Scripture and I proclaimed the Gospel with the privilege of preaching. This would be the 1st time I have ever preached at the funeral mass of a loved one. I'm told it was exactly what my mother-in-law would have wanted.
The singing at Mass was exceptional led by our friends the Wagner's, Mike and Denise. We proceeded from the church singing How Great Thou Art, one of Lynn's favorite hymns.
All those gathered retired to the parish hall for lunch, primarily provided by Wendy's sister Carrie's employer and our parish bereavement team. There was far too much food even with everyone present for the meal.
Burial was later in the afternoon in Ponchatoula. In a twist, first we buried Lynn, in her family plot and immediately after, we finally buried Wendy's dad, Wesley, who died in 1996. The family could never decide on a final resting place but after the passing of Lynn, everyone came together to have Wesley laid to rest next to his brother, mom and dad.
We were glad to have both our children with us; the aforementioned Elizabeth and son James who flew in last night from North Carolina and is already flying back as we speak. Wendy's sister was able to fly her son in so all the grandchildren were present.
Where do you began with the thanks? The parish family that Wendy and I call home worked diligently to prepare a beautiful liturgy, the Wagner's with the music, Deacon Mark for assisting the Mass with me, good friend George who also served at the altar. And Fr. Ken, our pastor, paid attention to all the little details. He was also a big factor in helping Lynn grow spiritually in the weeks and months leading to her death. Also, Fr. Dean, from MHT Parish, who also spent hours with both Lynn and Wendy over the past 5 months was able to be with us today at the visitation.
And I could mention so many other folks to; the folks who made our meal possible today, served the meal and stayed and cleaned up afterwards. There is Serenity Funeral Home who were such a huge help, the folks at the Ponchatoula Cemetery also who helped us tremendously.
Sadly I will probably forget someone but as the title suggests: we are profoundly thankful for everyone.
It has been over a week since Lynn died. Many will miss her but it is a profound void for both Wendy and her sister Carrie. Prayers are important in times like this but they tend to stop over time especially once the funeral and burial are done. If so inclined, keep those prayers coming. My family will need them as we continue to pray for Lynn, since we believe it is holy right to pray for the deceased as we read in Scripture.
Lynn Holden's life spanned 78 years, from 10-15-1940 until 11-19-2018. Now our wish is for her to rest in peace and our hope is in the promises of Jesus and she will behold God face to face!
This has been a difficult yet rich experience since this all begin on June 2nd. Difficult because her struggle was real and the pain and the setbacks were so concerning. But her journey to a more deep and intimate relationship with God was a source of great joy and peace.
So tonight, we say thank you as we move on from this day of celebrating and remembering a life, and laying to rest a beloved mother and friend.
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