Processing . . . . .

Last Sunday I got another one of those phone calls. . . The kind you wonder about . . . The kind you don't want to get . . .  At church that morning a friend had mentioned driving by a bad accident on the way there that morning.  As we know a lot of people who drive that road . . . you wonder.  That afternoon I found out.  Good friends.  People I had know since I was a young teenager.  Both parents Gone. . . Driving to church . . . Instantly arriving in heaven . . . Hitting the back of a farm truck hard enough to break the axel on the truck and send it careening into a field. . . Tragic Loss. . . So Fast . . . No preparation - except they had been preparing all their lives.  Parents who were involved.  Loved their kids . . . Excited for some new grandkids in the spring. . . Helped the community . . . Involved . . . Ministers - in heart. . . Caring and loving. . . Funeral was yesterday.  Packed out facility.  Dustin estimated 550 or 600 people.  If there would have been a sharing and impact moments from their lives into each person in attendance - we would still be there!  Good service.  The kids all had the shell shocked look.  Of I have to get through this, but I am still processing.  Not even realizing how much this day will impact them for the next weeks, months and years.  Life changing.  John was so much like my Dad in many ways.  Never had met a stranger.  A minister in heart, but not occupation.  Someone who cared about people.  Would become involved in their lives because he truly cared for them.  Wanted to help them.  Cared about Who you were as a person and how you were doing as a person.  Would travel to see people  . . . Would give you a big daddy hug . . .  So yesterdays funeral was hard . . . Partly because of another big heavenly deposit made from my life . . . and partly due to the ones already made. . . flashbacks . . . A song . . . A word . . . A picture . . . Hitting way too close to the missing in my own life.  I find that the process of grief changes - but never truly goes away.  Things still happen that send you spinning.  Life happens and you wonder if your anchor will hold.  I guess that is when you are being held and carried.

http://www.argusobserver.com/obituaries/john-and-angela-hendricks/article_997ed8c4-31ca-11e3-8aef-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=story