The end of a very long day. The day of my Dad’s funeral. A day that I thought would be a horribly difficult day. And yet…..while it was a difficult and very emotional day, there was a lot of healing and beauty and celebration too. Oddly enough, I laughed more today than I have in the week since he died. 

I could feel him there with us. While I miss him so deeply, and wanted to reach out into that feeling and grab a hold of him, I was thankful to be able to stand there with that feeling of love all around.

The outpouring of love was immense. It was so amazing to see all those little things that I loved about him that others loved about him too. How fully he was able to share his gifts with the world. The talks people gave  made me laugh and cry – sometimes at the same time. The power of the emotions they shared as they described the impact that my Dad made on their lives blew me away. I feel so honoured to have such a strong tribe of people around me. 

At the reception after I saw people I haven’t seen in years. Since childhood. Old babysitters, teachers, neighbours, friends. To share this emotional experience with so many people who had strong emotional ties to my Dad helped me intensely. I feel truly blessed. 

I will write more about it, but now I am tired and over whelmed and in need of sleep. 

The funeral ended with the hymn Lord of the Dance which is one of my favourites. 

Dad would have loved to have seen the outpouring of love shone on him. He gave his love and loved with his heart, and today it was obvious how many people felt that love and were shining it back. 

Happiness moment today happened a few ways. I laughed and visited with childhood friends. I honoured my dad and the life he lived. In one funny moment Jenna was talking about her supper which included tofu “mommy, I liked my supper – but I’m not sure how I felt about the TOE FOOD. I didn’t really care for that.”