Hi friend, how are you?
Do you recall about 5 or 6 weeks ago I shared how a old buddy of mine had unexpectedly passed away? We were cops together
Well not yesterday but last Saturday was the funeral, and it was big
I’m guessing about 310 - 340’sh people were there
If I had to guess I’d say I knew a third of them
My old buddy was loved
I needed a few days to digest that day before I could share it. After the sadness of it all my day that day could be a movie about self realization with a feel good ending. It wasn’t just a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, that entire event became a long over due, healing experience
The funeral was held inside a beautiful church with large comfy plush chairs that had tiered seating… It felt like we were all in it together
After the service itself there was a large catered luncheon held right there in an adjoining building
No one knows who donated the catered luncheon for everyone, but it was extremely well planned out, and it was seriously legit…. Whoever loved my friend blessed all of us that day in our time of sorrow. I mean this was professionally done so that no one waited for anything, and the food was extremely top notch… I got the impression that the people catering were accustomed to doing high end events
That set the tone for the conversations to come
No one was being rushed to leave that day, and no one wanted to
Like I said, it was a beautiful event, and it healed, not just me, but others too
It had been 21 years since I had seen many of my old friends that day
And to my amazement all of them still recognized and remembered me
All of us had changed, but we were all still the same
Time / maturity / life itself
We shared so many stories that day, I truly cannot remember the last time I laughed and cried so much all at the same time 😄 😅
One old buddy is still a cop, but he’s now in a very high ranking position with the county
He was in a conversation with his wife and 2 other couples, I waited a moment watching him, he finally noticed, we shook hands, then we hugged, and I shared this with him:::
“_____________I’m so f—————-g proud of you, when they told me you made it I was sooooooo f———————g proud of you, you made it, one of us made it… Don’t ever forget your past, and always do what you can to help the people”
He didn’t want to let go of me…. After we let go he wiped the water from his face, I didn’t have to say another word. He knew I was no longer mad about some things of the past
Like I said I could write a feel good movie about that day, but what really matters is this:::::::::::
Forgiveness, we all need to do more of it. I know that I do at least
Healing, sometimes it comes with forgiveness
Sometimes healing comes from going back and revisiting our pasts
Sometimes it comes from knowing that we did the best that we could when things were out of our control.
And God, is always in control, we never / never / never can go wrong, by giving it to God
Invest wisely, live charitably and be well
Brother Bill