Death is Not the End

   Officially this is the open thread for May 4th, however I have dispensed my normal formalities with the open thread because today I have something much more important to write about than the shadowy game of politics which so many of us here at America’s Watchtower follow so closely. See, real life has this way of sneaking up on you and kicking you when you least expect it and when this happens it serves as a reminder of what is really important in this world, and that is exactly what happened to me and my family last Sunday morning. There is nothing in this world which is more important to me than my family and this post is dedicated to them. 

  I sat down last week at least two times and attempted to write something along the lines of which I am about to post today, but each time I did so I was overcome with emotion and was unable to write anything which I felt was fitting. While on the outside I was trying to be strong for my family I found myself weak in private. The ironic thing is that I found out on Friday morning how strong my family was and they ended up giving  me the strength to write this post.

  I can only hope and pray that what I am about to write is half as good as the tribute Lauri, Debbie, and Tamie gave to their mother when they stood in front of the church Friday morning and delivered the most beautiful tribute to a person that I have ever heard. This is going to be hard, the emotions are already getting to me again, but here we go.

  It would be an understatement of vast proportions to say that this week I have been blogging with a very heavy heart. I continued to blog because it provided some normalcy, an escape, during a week in which nothing seemed real. Last Sunday morning my mother-in-law, Nancy, passed away all too soon.

  I first met Nancy when I was 17 years old and at that time I don’t think that many people would have guessed that 30 years later she would still be part of my life. That was when I met my future wife, Lauri, and while we knew we were right for each other people always question “young love” but Nancy accepted me as part of the family from the beginning. Nancy was my mother-in-law, but she was much, much more than that–she was a dear friend and I love her deeply.

 She loved her three daughters and her four grandchildren more than anything else in the world (although  the Red Sox and the Patriots were right up there!) and she would do anything for them.

  When my oldest son was very young she took him to the store and there he found this big, plastic, green (I think it was green, my memory isn’t always the best) truck. He was so excited that all he could do was point at it and exclaim “mooka-mucka!” Needless to say, Nancy bought that truck for him–there was no way she could say no! That was how the story went but this week I learned for the first time that he called the truck ‘mooka-mucka’ because that was the sound it made when he pushed it across the floor.

  Nancy became known as ‘Mooks” to my two boys because of this story. But besides gifts such as this Nancy gave them much, much more–she gave them unconditional love, affection, and helped to give them a wisdom of God which they still carry to this day. My boys are better men today because of Nancy.

  Last Sunday the family gathered at my father-in-law’s house; we cried and we laughed as we remembered Nancy while we began preparations to celebrate her life on Friday. Nobody was prepared for what we saw when we left the house that evening–a great rainbow (pictured above) stretched across the heavens. It was the most beautiful and complete rainbow I have ever seen; it was truly awe-inspiring and it has had a profound effect on me. 

  Nancy gave her family one last gift; a sign that everything would be okay and that while we were grieving she was in a better place and she was looking down upon us. She might have left this world but she is not really gone for she lives in our hearts and she knew that death was not the end, it is the beginning…..

  I have listened to this song several times over the last week and it gives me comfort every time I hear it; here is Nick Cave and friends performing ‘Death is not the End.’ I love you Nancy.

When the storm clouds gather round you
And heavy rains descend
Just remember that death is not the end

Oh the tree of life is growing
Where the spirit never dies
And the bright light of salvation
Shines in dark and empty skies