Sing Me Home

Daddy and Mary

My Grandma and Mary

Yesterday we sang Karen home. In a beautiful service, her grandchildren sang, her daughter sang, the choir sang, the congregation sang, the guest pastor sang and even Karen sang in a precious last video message from her. How can we keep from singing?

Everyday babies are born and everyday somewhere someone buries a parent. But when it's your baby, or your parent, it changes everything. They will miss their Karen.

In the post funeral empty, I wrapped presents for my sister and my niece, packed the suitcases for the birthday weekend in Iowa and called Casey. I cried on the phone to Casey because that's what we do.

Bill got home from work and we loaded up the car and drove south to my mother's farm. We talked about the service and turns out he called his friend Tim on the way back from church to work too. That's what we do.

And as the hour got later and we both were getting tired, I played DJ with the 80's power ballads on my iTunes. I listened to my husband's voice singing quietly along and driving.

I sang along a little, but mostly I let him sing me home.