Three funerals in a week

Today I had the second of three funerals within a week's time. It's been three months since my last funeral. That's how it goes in the ministry of a small church like ours. Even more, all three of these funerals come through connections outside the church... although there are some ties you might recognize.

On Thursday I conducted the funeral for Rick Aikins. A friend from high school, Dave Debowsky, called me last Saturday and shared that his sister's husband had died suddenly. You may remember the name. Dave's parents, Phil and Gloria Debowsky, were regulars here at church for a few years before moving to Texas. This is their oldest daughter. Bonnie and Rick Aikin didn't have a church connection and Bonnie didn't know where to turn. Dave asked me if I was able to do the service. I told him I could. I met with the family and we had the service at the Belmont Funeral Home in Colchester.

Today I presided at the memorial service for Alice Regina Kirchner. The service was at Central Baptist because she was a member there. So you may be wondering why I conducted the service. Well, Reggie was the best friend of Myra Christensen and we met several years ago. She even visited our church a few times over the years when her pastor was away. At Myra's service Alice asked me if I would do her service if they didn't have a minister when the time came. I said I would be honored.

Regina passed away just about two weeks ago and her daughter Barbara called me. I worked with Barbara Poirier on the Otis Library Board for several years. We became friendly. She wanted to know if I would do the service for her mother. I told her that Central had a new pastor and it was proper to ask her to do the service but I would be more than happy to participate. I got a call from Pastor Nancy and after a brief discussion she suggested it would be good for me to preside over the service because of my connections to the family and her pre-arranged vacation days following her own mother's passing just days ago. So today we held the service and everything went well. Reggie would have been proud to see her family share in different parts of the service in "her" church.

On Tuesday I will conduct the third of these services. I got a call from another high school friend who owns the other Funeral Home in Colchester, the Aurora McCarthy Home. Sean said he was with a classmight of mine whose mother had just died. He wanted to know if I would take the service for Beverly Davis. I told him I would be happy to do so. I spoke briefly with my classmate, Raymond, and he said he appreciated the fact that I was doing the service.

I couldn't help thinking that it is funny how sometimes all of our worlds come together. Harry Chapin sang a song called "All My Life's A Circle" and over the last week it has rung true for me as I serve here in Norwich.

Cal