Goodbye

I'm not really sure how to write about the funeral.
In one respect it was terrible, as funerals should be. Lots of crying, red eyes, hugging. A wooden box containing your precious person. Tears leaking out and a heart so heavy it ached.
Yet it was also brilliant, a room full of people who all loved this same person, who had come from many places to honour him. Photos of his wonderful life shown on a screen, memories of a happy childhood, a brilliant young adult and a wonderful happy man.
It was held in a funeral home, no Gods or prayers, no incense or wafers. The funeral director read a few bad poems, talked a bit about Don, then invited Dons sons to come and speak. Both his boys are smart, strong minded guys, very good with words.
And so they blew us all away. They each told stories of their Dad, funny, warm, familiar stories of a man whose eyes smiled at everyone & who no-one ever just met, but someone people always liked and usually loved. They talked of their own feelings about losing him, but that what he had taught them about life was to be rational and honest. To question and enjoy. To love and remember.
It was a tribute so fitting you could almost feel him in the room. He wasn't gone, he had left in each of us, but particularly these 2 beloved boys of his, memories and love that would live on always. So many stories and so much warmth.
I cried to say goodbye, but afterwards I felt such a sense of peace. I feel so lucky to have known him, so grateful to have had him in my life. He was truly loved and I'm so happy I got to love him. It's going to be a long road, particularly for my Mum who has travelled this path before. More than the grief of losing him though, is the joy of having had him.