The Memorial

Even the heavens were crying as we slogged through a soaking rain into Grace Community Church, just before 3 p.m. on Friday, January 8th. Once inside though, things seemed to brighten. With Bettie's life as the central theme, gloominess simply could not prevail.

As I mentioned in The Next to the Last Chapter, plans for this service began a couple of weeks before...well let's just leave it at that. The hospice nurse had ventured that Bettie would probably not even make it to January. (That apparently needled Bettie just a little.) Though I had not written anything down, I had talked with our family about my ideas and what I knew of Bettie's desires.

With all of that in mind, I spent an entire day preparing what I thought should be in the program. (I'm still not sure what to call the printed hand-out. I guess program is as good as anything. Note: A copy of that "program" in pdf format is now posted just to the right of this text.) In all of the preparations, my underlying concept was a service that was befitting the woman we were remembering. It had to be classy, honoring, uplifting, and ministering, all at the same time. I wanted emotions to be free to flow, but not to become overly maudlin.

Over the next two weeks, things began to come together. I got editorial suggestions from the family and my pastor and his associate. Veronica and her sister Vicky began to comb through boxes of photos as they crafted a media presentation to highlight this extraordinary life. My chorus began to review a song that I had picked from last year's repertoire, because of its particularly suitable theme. I visited with Shelly Larson at Grace Community Church, who handled all the facility details flawlessly.

By that dreary Friday afternoon, though my obsessiveness over being on time had gotten us there 45 minutes early, there was little for the family to do. Flowers had arrived, the chorus was downstairs warming up, Jordan was tending to the guest book, and guests were arriving. We sat in a private reception room, nervously doing our best to ignore the reality in which we were immersed.

The chapel at Grace comfortably seats 150. Quite a few extra chairs were brought in, but, though rather full, the overflow space was not needed. Fifteen minutes before starting, Vicki Biltz began playing traditional hymns (Bettie's favorites) on the piano. Just past three, the service began.

Though I had thought it might be about forty minutes in length, it was actually very close to an hour. The service consisted of:

• Pastor Mark Biltz's message "The End of Life...and The End of Death".
• A photo montage with "Annie's Song" by John Denver and "I Can Only Imagine" by The Maranatha Singers.
• A time of sharing, stories and memories, hosted by Associate Pastor Art Palecek. (Seven people spoke, including our sons Steve and Jim.)
• Two song's by Northwest Sound Men's Chorus: "Their Hearts Were Full of Spring" and "The Irish Blessing".
• The Aaronic Blessing by Pastor Mark.

There was a time of fellowship with food afterward, during which the family was able to meet nearly all of the guests. During this time I received many kind comments on the service, as did other family members. I'll leave it for those who attended to post their thoughts, but all in all, I believe my dear Bettie was honored in a manner befitting her.