Another memorial service

This evening I attended a memorial service held at the chapel at Sunset Cemetery, where Ed is buried. It was brief but beautiful. This was the first time the cemetery offered this event, and the response was far beyond their expectations. There must have been 200 people there. It was standing room only inside the chapel. It was a dark and dreary night because we are having several days of rain, especially dark because there is no illumination along the cemetery roads; but the entrance to the cemetery and the driveway to the chapel were lined with luminaries, and it was beautiful and kind of comforting for me. Staff were located strategically to guide the traffic and get everyone parked near the chapel. They had golf carts to ferry people from their cars to the chapel if they did not want to walk. Inside, there was a Christmas tree simply decorated with gold ribbon and ornaments, and a very large candle, which some children in attendance helped light. A minister from Potters House of God in Columbus spoke informally but meaningfully, and a couple of times his words brought tears to my eyes. The ornament I received as a remembrance is silverplate, a flat circular style, with the center being a candle at whose base are holly berries and leaves. The bottom is inscribed
In Loving Memory
Ed Giesman
7/3/1935 - 6/16/2007

At one point, the minister asked us all to join in singing one verse of Amazing Grace, which everyone did. I never would have thought that an assembly of people who never saw or heard of each other before would sing out in 4-part harmony, but we did. It was touching and beautiful, so much so that the minister asked us to do it again--and we did. He closed with a prayer, having us hold hands with the people on each side of us; that too was comforting to me.

It's really rough trying to share in the joy of the holiday. I still have not put up any Christmas decorations. The only thing I did do was put out the PEACE sign we always put out as part of our outdoor Christmas decorations for the past 10 years. But wouldn't you know it, now it won't light up. So I have brought it back inside, and I plan to sit with it as Ed did so many times with strings of lights, testing each bulb until I find the culprit that is keeping it from lighting. I hope I have as much patience with it as he did. Perhaps this new ornament will be the impetus to get out some Christmas decor. As much as we both loved Christmas decorating and music and shopping (me more than Ed on that one) and gathering with family and friends, I really do need to honor that.