It was a bit crazy...

...but what a beautiful day for it.  I got up about 2 and was on the road by 2:30.  I welcomed the silence in the car on the seven hour drive  - and I-70 through the Flint Hills is always a treat.   I arrived at St. John's Lutheran Church, just south of Lincoln, Kansas at 9:45 with an hour and 15 minutes to spare before the memorial service for Eunice and her committal.  It was so good to see Rose Mary and Carl's sister and brother again - and sundry other Aufdemberge relatives who visited at St. Paul's over the years.  Up on the hill behind the cemetery stands a cairn that folks have added to over the years.  Seeing it, hearing Carl's voice as he first described it to me - and Jo telling me about it too (forgetting, I'm sure that Carl had), well, I can't begin to say how it made me feel except that it made me feel very close to them both - even though they are buried here at St. Paul's.  Still to stand in this Church where Carl was a youngster and see in the distance his family farm, and think of how this community of faith had shaped that towering man of faith and song - well, it was an honor indeed.  I was smiling much of the way home just thinking about it.  The day was flawlessly beautiful too - crisp and clean - and the shining white Church (shaped rather like St. Paul's, but frame, not brick) standing on its little hill with its cemetery spread to its side, and the parsonage between them - it's a scene that I will treasure for many a year.  AND at the day of the Resurrection, Eunice will not need to shake that finger of hers at me.  I did as she asked.  We planted her where she wished to be planted, beside her mom and her sister.  Happy wakening, Eunice dear!  We miss you - and Julana and Carl!