Yesterday at a funeral the first of a number of family members to offer personal words of remembrance and gratitude was the last surviving sibling of the man who had died -- a sister younger than him by three years.
Eighty-four years old, a little frail, but impeccably dressed, dignified, composed and calm, as she walked up the aisle to the lectern she was accompanied by a younger man -- a son, a nephew perhaps, maybe a grandson. He just lightly touched her arm from half a step behind her as she walked up at her own pace, then stood quietly just half a step beside and behind her as she placed her handwritten pages on the lectern and smoothed them flat.
In a calm, gentle voice she addressed the people gathered -- maybe a hundred or so, and then with the help of a small magnifying glass that she had carried with her, she began to read what she had written about her brother, the relationship they enjoyed through the years, and her admiration and gratitude for him. It was honest, humble, open and wonderful to hear.
Every once in a while as she tried to follow her handwritten lines with her magnifying glass, she would lose her place on the page -- find herself suddenly looking at a wrong line. At those moments the young man, who was wordlessly following along with her what she had written, gently brought his hand forward to place his finger where her next words were on the page, so she could continue the flow of her thought uninterrupted.
That was all he did the whole time they were up there together. And when she finished reading and thanked the people for listening, he walked with her back to her seat -- again just lightly touching her arm from a half a step behind and to the side, gently offering support to what she needed to do, pacing himself to match and accommodate her steps.
It was a little slower than he was used to walking, I'm sure. I'm sure there were also things he could have said about his own relationship with the man who had died.
But slower and quieter was exactly what she needed and appreciated him for being, for her to do what she needed to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment