The Burial

Saturday was the day set up for the burial. My wife and I left here around 7:15 in the morning with Sylvia following is a separate vehicle. The trip is about a 4 and a half hour drive north. The plan was to let her attend the burial and then return to Dallas for school. We got into town right on schedule, around 11:45, and tried to grab a quick bite of lunch. It seems like there was some sort of collegiate sporting event in town, since the subway we stopped at had a bus load of girls from Concordia university parked in front and another group from LaTourneau showed up. We looked in and saw the line, and then noticed the line was mainly for the restroom. We quickly slipped in the food line and it did not take too long to get our sandwiches. We then changed clothes and headed for the cemetery.

As we drove up to the cemetery we saw the traditional blue tent with chairs set up. There was only one person present at that time, the funeral director. Over the next 20 minutes 2 of mom's friends and one of my friends showed up, along with the minister.

The service was very brief, maybe 10 minutes and we commended mom's body back to the earth. They said that it wold take maybe an hour to finish the actual burial and that we should go on for a little while and return later. We went over to my friends parents house (I have known them for 30 years) and had a nice 2 hour visit, then returned to the graveside. We took a few pictures and said a few prayers and then left to look around town.

We went by the store that my father (and mother) owned downtown on the courthouse square and then over to my grandparent's house. The time was now about 4:10 and we decided to drive by the Catholic church and look at it. As we drove by we noticed a few people parking and getting out of their cars. It seems that the vigil Mass started at 4:30, so we parked and attended Mass. After Mass we drove my my old house and then headed back out of town, planning on getting dinner on the way home.

We ate dinner at a Chili's and it was a nice meal, but as the hour got later and later, we got more and more sleepy. After a serious discussion about spending the night along the way we decided to go ahead and drive back and if either one of us got too sleepy to stay awake, then we would find a motel and stop for the night. Fortunately we did not get too sleepy and arrived safely home around 11:30 that evening.

It was a very long day, but seeing a few people I knew at the burial helped in saying good bye to my mom.

May the Lord bless and keep her and may his perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.