Sing Into Your Storm ~ Overcoming Adversity Through High Praise

Rachel Ann-Marie’s death occurred on a Friday, around the lunch hour. By the time we ended up meeting with the Funeral Director to plan her funeral - it was near the end of the day. So there was no time to purchase a cemetery plot and have it dug. The funeral had been scheduled for the following Monday, so we chose to forego a graveside ceremony as part of her funeral service since the cemetery plot was not dug up yet. So it was agreed that the funeral would happen on Monday and then on Tuesday, just the Funeral Director and I would go up to the cemetery to bury my daughter’s remains. What we didn’t expect was that my wife’s sister flew into town late Monday night (though she was too late for the funeral that day). The next morning as I was preparing to leave to go up to the cemetery, my Sister-In-Law asked me “Would you mind if I went up with you – since I missed the funeral, this would help me with closure too?” I said yes. Arriving at the cemetery, it all happened so quickly, one moment burying her and then the next minute seeing the guys cover the plot with grass and the placing of flowers on top of her grave. As we were about to leave, my Sister-In-Law asked me very tenderly “This is very difficult for me to ask you – but would you please allow me to take a few pictures of you standing over her grave? You may never want to look at those pictures again but unless I take them, you will also never have the choice to do that.”

79