Well, it’s been a while since I sat down and wrote something; so you can well imagine that something significant must have driven me to it. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.
It all started the weekend before last, when I received news that my Uncle Tony had passed away. To be honest, it wasn’t much of a shock for me. He had spent the better part of the last few years in a nursing home. They don’t call it God’s waiting room for nothing. He was done waiting, so he went home to Jesus. Going to the funeral was almost enjoyable. Everyone was in good spirits, and it almost had the feel of a family reunion. There was plenty of laughter and smiles to go around, which is how I hope it is when I check out. I’ve often told my wife that when I die I want her to put me in the cheapest box she can get and use the extra money to hire a caterer and a DJ. They can put the kegs on my coffin.
At the funeral, I asked for my cousin Michael, Tony’s only son out of six kids. His sister informed me that he was in the hospital and too ill to travel. Here’s where I need to fill in a little of the “back-story.”
Several years ago, Michael was driving home in the wee hours of the morning after helping a friend move. He fell asleep at the wheel and, barely a mile or two from home, hit a tree head on. His injuries were horrific. By one account, he flatlined twice on the way to the hospital, where he spent a very long time essentially being rebuilt by the doctors. By the time they were done, he probably had more metal in him than what was left of his car.
A while ago, he moved out to California and things took a turn for the worse. He had developed an infection in his heel (which had been reconstructed with steel) that found its way into his bones. He was back in the hospital, with doctors trying to bring the infection under control. He developed an infection in his heart. Then he got the news about his father. Unfortunately, his doctor couldn’t clear him to travel.
The morning the family was to bury Uncle Tony, we received the news that Michael had died the night before.
I can bury my grandparents. I can bury uncles and aunts. When it comes time to bury my parents, we’ll see how I do. But I have a hard time burying cousins, especially one who is so much younger than me. I wasn’t supposed to be going to his funeral; he was supposed to go to mine – a very long time from now. Suffice it to say that the atmosphere at this funeral was a bit different. None of us were ready for this kind of heartbreak. It was tough seeing his sisters again so soon under the same circumstances. “We have to stop meeting like this,” I told a couple of them.
I thought about the last time I saw Michael. It was before his accident. I don’t remember much about it, except that a lot of laughter passed between us. I thought even further back and recalled that one of the formative experiences of my life involved both Uncle Tony and Michael. I couldn’t tell you the year, but I know it was Memorial Day weekend. My father and I went with them to McGuire Air Force Base to see the Blue Angels. It was my first time ever seeing them, and if you know me well, you know the rest of the story.
So the inevitable questions come. Why so young? Why now?
Only each of us who pass through that veil into eternity knows what passes between us and the Almighty in the moments leading up to it. I imagine the Lord arriving in that hospital room and the conversation going something like this….
“Michael, you’ve walked a pretty hard road for a while. I know because I’ve been there all along, and I know there’s nothing more they can do for you. The truth is now we’re closer to my house than we are to yours. So why don’t you just come home with me? I know someone there who’ll be really glad to see you.”
Well, it’s been a while since I sat down and wrote something; so you can well imagine that something significant must have driven me to it. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.
