In September, on my birthday in fact, we piled in mom and dad's car bright and early and drove to Shelley, Idaho to support Ryan (and the family) at his father, Rob's funeral. He unfortunately had a heart attack and they weren't able to revive him. It is never good to go to a funeral, let alone one of a relatively young man.
Ryan's dad was the principal at the elementary school and also Ryan's assistant coach of the track and field team. The audience was filled with students and the stories told about him were touching and humbling. I do remember, in the few interactions I had with him, that he was always ready with a kind smile that moved beyond his mouth and truly radiated in his whole countenance. His happy eyes especially showed you that he was genuinely happy to be conversing with you.
Mary was asked to sing a solo but because we were going to be there anyway, we lent her our support and our voices and we sang as a five-some. Daddy played. It was a privilege to be able to share with Ryan's family our testimony through music. Since words are so inadequate in these situations, hopefully the Spirit that attends a heartfelt song, conveyed our feelings of sorrow and concern for them.
All in all, it was a remarkably good birthday. Had we not gone to the funeral I would have gone to work and it wouldn't have been a terribly different day. As it worked out, I got to gab with my family for 3 hours to and 3 hours from and several hours while there. I got to help honor a man who was an example of Christ-like love and service and support my sister and family and my dear brother-in-law Ryan. I had german chocolate cake, and it was a choir night to top it all off. One of the best birthdays in the books I'd say.
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