Goodbye...

Today I woke with a groan, a flop, a childlike closing of the eyes to make it all go away...not ready for another. Another funeral...another loss...how blithely I lived life, free from death close to me or my circle...stepping into the ring with the grim reaper taints the edges...blurs the lines that sit round mortality...we are confronted with not only our own flagging mortality, oh no...that would be enough, no? We are fully aware...no dear hearts, it is the mortality of friends, family that suddenly grow closer, and closer still; now sitting outside your door, beside your bed, in your bathroom, puttering round the kitchen...it takes up space in mind, in body, in spirit and pulls each step with little effort until we must sit and meditate, cry and rage at the unfairness, at the brevity of this life lived well...

Today my family and I attend the funeral of a man who had a significant impact on each of us...baseball, showers for the many babies, fireworks gathering, parties big and small...conversations that circled many topics of seriousness and hilarity alike.

One thing stood out amongst the many honourable characteristics of the man...he stood with no judgement...he lived his life as a father, a husband, uncle, brother, friend, to the beat of a different drum...

We go to celebrate a life today...we go to say our goodbyes to a man well loved. We go to share stories and laugh, we go to share in the grief, to lighten the load in some small way....we go today to honour a friend...

Well lived my friend...well played, well lived, well done thou good and faithful servant.

Greeted by family and friends already gone ahead and waiting...waking to a new plane and the arms of love...

Goodbye my friend, until we meet again....