by Eddie Pipkin
Image by Yerson Retamal from Pixabay
My mother-in-law passed away in early December, and my wife and her brother found themselves in that scenario in which we all inevitably find ourselves: overwhelmed by grief by obligated to work out the complex logistics of funeral arrangements. My mother-in-law, God bless her, was an organized and thoughtful lady who was not the least bit afraid about going to meet Jesus, so she had planned out exactly what she wanted to have happen during her ‘going home’ celebration (which is always a comfort to the bereaved). Also, the family had a favored funeral services provider in the little town that has formed the hub of much of their lives. The entrepreneur who runs this family-handed-down business was compassionate, knowledgeable, and professional . . . except for a couple of instances in which he wasn’t. And those small moments were a testament to the dangers of “trying to do everything yourself.”
The funeral service itself was lovely, and the guy in charge of the operatio