General
Norm
Many mornings, Shirley would say, “What are your plans today?” and then later, especially if I had not lived up to her expectations, might say, “So, what have you done today to justify your existence?” That’s a hard question to answer especially when what I was doing was all in my head; a busy place too, but not easily perceived or appreciated by the casual observer.
As was her style, Shirley’s funeral was planned by her a week in advance. The program
was under strict guidelines to be carried out by me, our children and
several good friends. Brian provided the organ music. Noreen kept it organized
and nicely focused. Roger organized and played Shirley’s favourite music. Dave
provided a lifetime of snapshots on the screen, accompanied by ‘Meditation from Thais’. Carol gave the Eulogy
and was the head honcho in charge of everything. Nellie, our first baby
sitter, gave her impressions of Shirley and cherished memories. Bailey
read a letter of thanks that she gave to Shirley in September when we knew
she was dying. I sat in
the front pew and felt all weepy, sad, glad and proud of the part played
by our children and our friends. We are all especially proud of
Shirley’s courage and calm composure when facing the last deep sleep. All
130 people in attendance felt that it was a
great success as amply indicated by the number of wet handkerchiefs.
