A Day of Feels

Yesterday was a day of feels. (I have to admit this isn’t my phrase. Deborah told me Beth said it about another funeral she had been to) The day was full of emotions – celebration of my dad’s homecoming, sadness because we’ll miss him, thrilling music, a funny and powerful sermon, joy at seeing friends and family, and feeling my heart will explode at all the love people poured out. The Body of Christ is amazing! God is good!

I’ll just post a bunch a pictures, because it’ll help me remember how amazing the day was.

The funeral started in the back of the church. The grand kids all placed the pall on the casket. It was nice.

The front of the church was simple and beautiful. I loved the flowers. The service was fantastic. We said we should just keep the order of service and use it for all our funerals.

The music – it was so good. A choir sang two pieces that were just perfect. The hymns made my eyes leak, as hymns often do. This time I wasn’t embarrassed, because I knew a lot of other peoples’ eyes were leaking too. The congregation sang so powerfully! Twice the organist stopped playing and we sang a cappella. The spontaneous harmony that people sang was gorgeous.

After the funeral, we went to the fellowship hall for a luncheon. Again I reveled in the loud talking and laughter. It was the sound of the hope of the Resurrection.

There were many church salads there. So many wonderful flavors. I love church salads!

The burial was in the afternoon in Arlington. Many Royuks are buried at St. John’s Lutheran cemetery in Arlington. The day was gorgeous! It was sunny and breezy and cool, and the sky was filled with fluffy clouds.

The message at the graveside was again filled with hope and joy. We sang. My niece played her violin. There was a vase of white roses – one for each grandchild. It was simple and beautiful.

After the short ceremony was over, the funeral director explained to some of us how the mechanism worked that the casket was sitting on. It was so interesting. I’ll take a moment to say how completely awesome the funeral home guy was! He was so on-point and read our family perfectly. He joked right along with us and smiled and supported us through the whole process. Awesome!

After the Committal, we went to Cousin Mike’s for a party. We didn’t call it a Wake, but that’s what it was. Mike and Sandra have a beautiful place on the Platte River. I’ve been there before. We all walked down the cliff to see the cabin on the river.

Then we came back up for pizza and other food and drink and lots of great conversation. I love my cousins. I wish I lived closer so I could spend more time with them. Mike had some “America” beer. It’s really Budweiser, but they have changed their labels this summer. I had heard they did that, but hadn’t seen it in real life. I was so excited to see an actual bottle of it, I had to take a picture.

In the evening, first cousin once-removed Evan built a bonfire. It was giant and amazing. The evening was cool, so the warmth was welcome. Some people (Lauren) sat by it for a long time. In Lauren’s case, I don’t think it was the warmth. She just really really likes fire.

I came with Harold and Beth, and we were almost the last ones there. By the time we got home, I was exhausted. I slept so well. What a great day! God is good!