My Heart was in the Right Place!

Recently, a very good friend of mine suffered the loss of her father. He was diagnosed with Cancer about the same time my daddy had his stroke (July 2005). We have been friends for several years, but really became close when both of our fathers’ lives were threatened. She was one of my participants in a workshop I presented last year on digital storytelling. She told an amazing story about her special relationship with her father and how she desired for her children to experience special moments with their grandfather so they too would be able to know a special relationship with him. The story was awesome. I really felt like I knew this man although we had never met.

So, where does one start when trying to comfort a friend who has experienced such a tremendous loss? Most times the best comfort someone can give a friend, during the loss of a loved one, is a listening ear. With this intent in mind, I decided I must travel to Cumberland County and lend a listening ear to my friend in need.

I talked to the superintendent of the school district that my friend teaches in and he gave me directions on how to travel to the funeral home for visitation. I didn’t get away from Bowling Green until almost 7:00, so by the time I drove to Burkesville it was almost 8:00. I pulled into the parking lot, just as the superintendent had described to me, dashed into the funeral home, signed the guest book, and looked around, but didn’t see my friend anywhere. I thought to myself, she is probably in the back taking care of her children, so I’ll proceed with my visit and make my way toward the front of the funeral parlor. I was greeted by an elderly lady standing next to the coffin. She was sobbing! I can’t tell you how gut-wrenching it was for me to see this lady so sadden by her loss. My mind is in a whirlwind….thinking my mom would be reacting this same way if this had happen to me instead of my friend. The lady finally gathered the strength to ask me how I knew him. I said, “Well I never met him before, but I feel like I’ve known him forever! I saw a digital story that his daughter created about him and it was fabulous. And since that day, I really believe I knew who he was and more importantly knew what an incredible husband and father he was to his wife and kids.” The lady replied, “Really, which one of his children wrote the story?” I said, “Ginger”. She said, “He didn’t have a child named Ginger”. At this point, I’m ready to die myself. I realized I was at the wrong funeral home! Part of me wanted to laugh, but at the same time, here I am with my arm of love wrapped around this sobbing, elderly woman! Finally, I was able to gather enough strength myself to apologize and tell her that I was terribly sorry for her loss, but that I had made a mistake and that I was at the wrong funeral home. She was very kind and understanding and in fact she even pointed me in the direction of the other funeral home in Burkesville.

Now my first impression after my little mishap, which could possibly be labeled as my most embarrassing moment in life, was to simply keep it myself and no one would ever have to know but, upon a second thought I decided this was just too good not to share with all my blogger friends!