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 people 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.