Funeral Planning

Today I made flight and rental car arrangements for the trip for Bill's interment at Arlington on November 8*. It seems a little odd after this time to begin planning for a funeral. Right after Bill died, my son Josh worked with a funeral home here in Parker who coordinated with a funeral home in Virginia to arrange things like transportation and getting a date at Arlington. We knew up front that it would take a while to get a date, and that date would be a few months off. This creates both advantages and disadvantages.

One advantage is that we can take our time and plan a nice service to complement the military honors. With the passage of time, it will be easier for speakers to say words from hearts that have had a chance to do some healing from the loss. The disadvantage is that it stretches out this time of commemoration and memorialization, and consequently prolongs the pain. The funeral takes place more than 90 days after Bill died, as the rawness of it has just begun to heal over, and each of us have begun to find our way in a world that doesn't include him anymore. Perhaps this is what has made the actual planning difficult.

Or maybe funerals are just difficult to plan because they are funerals.

The day before the funeral, the family and friends will be participating in an event to honor Bill and other family members and friends we have lost by raising money at the Free to Breath Yogathon in Baltimore, MD. The Yogathon consists of 108 Sun Salutations [corrected from 365 - an impossible number], which I won't be doing out of respect for my orthopedist's efforts to keep me upright and walking! However, I will be doing my part by cheering on the team and taking pictures.

*Bill's funeral service is at 0800 on 8 November 2010 at the Old Post Chapel at Fort Myers with interment following in Arlington National Cemetery.