Dad -- Part 2

I had to take some time to really process what I was feeling about my dad passing away,  the handling of the funeral, and aftermath of all the crazy. January was a difficult month in that the roller coaster of emotions was nearly insurmountable. 

Leading up to the day of the funeral, I spent a lot of time with my mom getting things planned. My dad had a few requests that I wanted to have honored, and my mom needed to be shielded from anything that would cause her further grief or anxiety. With such an expansive history covering 95 years, there was much to sort through and we wanted to make sure the day was spent on the greatest aspects of my father's legacy: his faith in Jesus Christ and the gift of each other as siblings.

The funeral was held on a snowy morning in January in Bountiful. We decided if President Monson (who had passed away a few days earlier) only had an hour long service, well then we certainly could keep it short and simple, too. The plan was for me to share some funny memories, mom and dad's dear friend Bishop Don Hales to share the gospel, a musical number that dad personally requested, "O Divine Redeemer", and Dad's oldest daughter to share a life sketch. For the most part everything went as planned and was beautiful, but at the last minute some people had their own agenda and unfortunately those in attendance were caught in the crosshairs. I won't provide another microphone for the craziness that ensued, but rather, focus on the joy many of us felt at being reunited, perhaps for one last time...

As the funeral service came to a close, Makenna stood and bravely sang peace to all our hearts with "Gethsemane." I am so grateful for the outpouring of the spirit that was ushered into the chapel with her music. It was definitely a saving grace. The words to that song represent the greatest message to come out of my dad's funeral, and ultimately his life.  "The hardest thing that ever was done, the greatest pain that ever was known, the biggest battle that ever was won, this was done by Jesus! The fight was won by Jesus!" All of the grief, shortcomings, issues, pain, misunderstandings, and grievances are swallowed up by our Savior, Jesus Christ. I repeat the closing words of my talk: "Jesus doesn't make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us." (Brad Wilcox, 2011) 

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I am adding the video below for memory keeping purposes. It's a video montage of Dad's life, set to the recording of my talk at the service.