The Visitation

Easter Sunday.  Andrew was spending it with Jesus while I was mourning his death.  The visitation wasn't until 6:00 p.m. so I felt like I had enough time to prepare myself.  I wanted to have a slide show of pictures playing so I was busy gathering those - one of my favorites is below.  Then my scanner stopped working about 5 pictures in and I began to panic.  Fortunately my brothers, Chris and Michael, stepped in and gathered the pictures and we headed to FedEx/Kinko's to scan them.  Then Matt and my sisters, Sara and Carey, helped collect framed pictures and Andrew's lacrosse stick to have at the funeral home.  

As a mom I was worried about two things heading to the funeral home - would anyone send flowers and would many people come?  I was completely blown away by the time I left that night.  There were plenty of flowers and I almost felt claustrophobic from the number of people who came out.  I got to see people I haven't seen in years and I got to meet many people I never knew, who also loved Andrew.  Hearing the stories people were sharing and remembering all the good times was wonderful and bittersweet.  Once again I was unable to adequately thank my family, friends and Andrew's friends who all showed up and supported us.  

There was also a ton of food coming to my house.  Cindy Finck and Tina Chapman, representing my IT family from the hospital had brought barbecue with all the fixings, Starla Johnson, representing my Revenue Management hospital family had brought ham, breakfast foods, and drinks.  Then Sheila Hall (baseball family) brought ham, turkey, rolls, and my neighbor, Bethany Abraham, brought chili and fudge. We were not going to be hungry.  My brother Michael was so excited he invented what he now refers to as the "perfect bite".  It's a combination of chips, barbecue pork, hot sauce, and cheese. My long-time friend Tami Moore, made the liquor store run the night before so we could have a toast to Andrew.  My brother was pretty excited about that too!

As the visitation was winding down, my boss (and friend), Cynamin Kinard, mentioned her daughter, Charleigh Jo, had written a letter for Andrew but had forgotten it at home.  I had asked for people to share stories or memories of Andrew and if they didn't want to say them then please write them down so I could read and cherish them later.  I asked Charleigh Jo if she would like to write him another letter now.  She said yes so we got her a memorial card and a pen.  Her message was so simple, and so is the path to Heaven.  It's as simple as believing.  Her message was this, "I like Andrew, tell Jesus hello."  She knows, at 6 years old, that Andrew is with Jesus because he believed and so does she.  It was likely the greatest thing anyone said to me that night.  I am grateful I get to work with Cynamin everyday and that she trusts in God as well.