goodbye ed.

i went to a funeral today. i don't know what to say about it. it was a funeral. it was long. it was a hot day. it made me feel sad. it was a nice service... as far as those things go.

ed kaiser died about a week and a half ago. he was a long-time member of my church, and my dear friend, trudy's father. thank God i don't know what it's like to lose a parent, but when it happens to a friend, it makes you think about stuff you don't want to think about. ed spent a good share of the last year treating lymphoma. part of me wants to say that at least it wasn't a hugely long, painful process, but that doesn't make someone's death any nicer. i don't know what to think or what to say really to my friend or her family. i've not been there, so i don't know what the right thing to say is. 'i'm sorry.' doesn't really express much. well, i guess we should be thankful that ed is done with his cancer now and heaven is a much better place for him to be. but the rest of us will still miss him.

on a less serious, but related, note. i heard this story on sunday from trudy. apparently, during church, robin, 3, was telling pam, the pastor's wife, that her papa died. and pam was sympathetic, but said to her, 'yes, but do you know where he is now?' at which point she turned to trudy and asked, 'where is papa?' and trudy said, 'he's in heaven with jesus.' robin thought a minute and then looked up at pastor at the front of the church and said, 'is that jesus?'

i just love the way kids try so hard to make the intangible so concrete.