Funny Guy Friday... A wonderful celebration of a life well led...

     Funny Guy Friday is written each week by my husband Mark. So, I married a funny guy...
     I never really plan what I am going to write for Funny Guy Friday.
     I mean, things just happen during the week that strike me as funny... then I take it from there.
     Although, I don't always plan what I will write about, I sometimes plan on what I will not write about. This mainly applies to topics that I have covered in the past... or events that really deserve a special level of reverence and honor.
     One event that I had decided to avoid writing about was our friend Dave's funeral last Monday. I mean, it was a funeral, for goodness sake. But then something happened... I attended the funeral and was left awestruck by the whole day. Especially, three unbelievable eulogies. Each paid a tribute to Dave in a unique way.
     Before I talk about these eulogies, I want to point out that I have delivered one eulogy in my life... at my father's funeral. I don't want to brag or anything, but I was informative, I was poignant, I was witty and according to my kids... I made a stupid scrunchy face about five or six times. 
     I was trying not to cry.
     Yeah, that's what we thought... but your face got kind of all twisted and scrunchy.
     Okay... informative, poignant, witty, stupid and scrunchy... that about covers it. Suffice to say, it is a difficult thing to do.
     Anyway, Dave's brothers and sisters, and then his parents, were the first to speak. Each spoke briefly about Dave, giving a bit of insight into what kind of man he had become. These last few years, the more he had suffered physically... the more he had grown spiritually.
     Dave was the youngest of six, and to summarize their thoughts... he was multi-talented, a great brother, son, husband and father, and he was super-competitive. His oldest brother concluded that he was so competitive that, of course, out of all of them, he would have to be the first to reach Heaven!
     Score one for Dave!
     When Dave's mom spoke, she mentioned that Dave loved music, so, as a tribute, the family sang him a song, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. Mrs. McGee is a good friend of Cheryl's mom, and she had played the piano and sung with the church folk group that my mother-in-law led for years. The family hit every note! I know nothing about music, but I knew that their gift of song was impressive in many ways. I spoke to Mrs. McGee after the funeral and told her that she never sounded better... and Dave would have loved it.
     I also got to thinking... What talents do my siblings and I have that would allow us to get up in front of a crowd of people and perform in this type of circumstance. 
     Sadly, the only thing I could think of is that we could take a baseball up there with us... and throw it around the church like we were taking infield or something. And even at that, we would have to make short throws to account for our older, weaker arms... and we would have to avoid throwing it to our sisters.
     But, I digress.
     Next up was Dave's wife Maura. As soon as we saw from the program that Maura was going to speak, Cheryl turned to me, shook her head a little, and advised that she would not be able to speak at my funeral. I looked around at the packed church and wondered aloud if anyone would even come to my funeral. Cheryl advised that people would come... just to be sure! 
     Thanks honey.
     Maura read a letter that she had written to Dave, and there is nothing that I can say or write that would do that letter justice. The only thing better than the words that she wrote was the way she read it. Every person in that church had tears in their eyes... with the notable exception of Maura. She was composed... she was loving... and she was amazing.
     And get this... no stupid scrunchy faces to speak of.
     The final speaker was Maura's father.
     It speaks volumes as to the type of husband and father Dave was that his father-in-law would speak so lovingly on his behalf. He recounted how he had first met Dave... as a little boy stealing the parents' tennis balls from the tennis courts at the local swim club... and he recounted that, all those years ago, the last thing that had gone through his mind as the little thief ran off was... There goes my daughter's future husband and father to six of my grand kids!
     Dave always spoke highly of his father-in-law, and it was crystal clear that the feeling was mutual.
     Although we had known Dave and Maura for many years, we only got to know them well over the last eight years, after they invited us to be part of a group of families that go on a family retreat every August. Apparently, we were not the only ones that were touched by the McGees, as the church was packed with friends and family.
     Heck, there were about ten priests in attendance. My theory on that is that Dave was either a great guy, or he just gave some really unforgettable confessions. Maybe both!
     The following day, a friend commented that he thought Dave might have planned much of the ceremony. I have no idea if he did or did not, but Maura had mentioned that Dave had asked her to read her letter.
     The only thing I have ever asked Cheryl to do at my funeral is to wear black. In fact, I want her to be like those old Italian women from the old country, and wear black for the remainder of her life... but that might be asking a bit too much. She insists she doesn't look good in black... and asks if plum will do.
      Anyway, here is what I do know, whoever did plan Dave's ceremony, pulled off a wonderful celebration of a life well led.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home,
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see?
Coming for to carry me home,
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

If you get there before I do,
Coming for to carry me home,
Tell all my friends I'm coming, too.
Coming for to carry me home.

I'm sometimes up and sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home,
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home.

The brightest day that I can say,
Coming for to carry me home,
When Jesus washed my sins away,
Coming for to carry me home.

One final note... we all know, no matter what Dr. Seuss says, you can never have too many Daves!