ONE MORE TIME

In today's world, people don't stay in one place for very long.  My sister lived in the Chicago area for 16 years before making the long awaited move to Florida after her youngest son, Danton, graduated from High School last May.  So the right thing to do in this circumstance was to have a second memorial service in Crystal Lake where Danton had spent practically his whole life.  This was where all his lifelong friends lived.  So only a few days after I finally got back to Minnesota, after being gone for over three weeks,  I packed for another trip.  Only for this one, it was a road trip.  I drove my parents to Chicago so they could attend their grandson's memorial service. It was a small church and the pastor guessed there were over 300 people at the service.  The pews held 180 people and they were full, chairs lined the aisles on both sides, the balcony was full, the entry way was filled and a large room off the sanctuary was filled with peple watching the service on the television they'd set up.  The family sat in the front row as the pastor related events of Danton's life.  I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole church.  Even grown men were wiping tears away.  I think the reality of it all hit when I found myself asking the question, "What if it was one of my children?"  It was then the uncontrollable sobbing started and didn't stop.