Sunday, January 23, 2011

Back by popular demand: ME!

Ok, so I've actually had people tell me that I need to write on here more. So... here I am. What am I up to, you ask?

Well, yesterday we went to a funeral. Some of you may have met our breakfast hostess, Carolee. Her husband, Clay, passed away after a battle with cancer and enduring many other medical problems. The funeral was the longest I've ever been to. It was about an hour and 15 minutes. It was also the most touching funeral I've ever been to. They talked about Clay the whole time. They went through his whole life. From birth to death. They hit on all the major events in his life. Most funerals, they just read the little blurp that is in the obituary. Clay was full of life. He loved with his whole heart all the time. He was married twice. His first wife passed away due to cancer. She died just days before they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. He met Carolee shortly after that (in his 70s) and they married. They were married for 14 years. Carolee has also been married twice, losing her first husband to heart disease.

I only met Clay a couple of times and talked to him on the phone a handful of times. I always admired their relationship. He called her Darlin' and Sweetheart and when they walked together, they held hands. She always said that she thanks God everyday for blessing her with two loves in her life.

When he was 12 he and his brothers sang acapella gospel music. They traveled around the country singing. He grew up, married, started a family, joined the military, was deployed in war, came back, owned his own service station and joined a barber shop quartet, where he sang bass. He sang with those same guys for 30 years. 30 years...

He planned his own funeral. He made sure there was a lot of music. The 3 remaining members of the quartet were there and sang some gospel songs. You could tell they were missing something, they were missing their bass line. He had military honors and Taps was played. That's when pretty much everyone in the church (which was packed) cried. I didn't, which was odd because I cry at every funeral. This funeral was different. It was the only funeral where I felt like we were celebrating the life of the deceased instead of focusing on their death.

I didn't plan on sharing all this info when I started typing, but I did because I think Clay was an amazing person. Even though I didn't know him all that well, I feel like I did. Through the stories Carolee told me and through his friends and family at his funeral.





ANNNNYYYWWAAAYYY...

Onto other happier subjects: Tabby is ready to have her baby! We did her tummy pics today. They are BEAUTIFUL and I can't wait to fix 'em up a little and post them :)

It's past Aiden's bedtime, I suppose it's time to go. I promise I'll write more. It is fun, and Facebook is getting old.