If you regularly read my blog postings, you know that my father passed away on March 17, 2012. We had a wonderful celebration of his life in March in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Today we had another celebration of his life in San Jose, California. My parents, their extended families and other friends all moved to the Bay Area of California during WWII. The men went off to war and the ladies worked in the shipyards and other war related jobs. After the war ended, my parents married and started a family. About that time, my grandfather began pastoring a Spanish speaking Assemblies of God church in San Jose. From my birth until sometime in my 15th year, my family and I attended the church. In my 15th year, my grandfather died of stomach cancer. My parents were leaders in the church, taught Sunday School classes and conducted seminars for many Spanish churches in how to have a healthy and productive Sunday School. When I was about 12 years old, I began playing the piano for church services in my grandfather's church. So, with all those connections, it seemed right to celebrate his life, again, in San Jose.
So today, we held a San Jose celebration service for my father at Bethel Church, our adopted home church. Many of our west coast relatives attended and many people from the Spanish speaking church, Templo La Hermosa (Beautiful Temple), attended. It was a wonderful time of seeing relatives I had not seen in many years, and renewing relationships with people who had attended my grandfather's church many years ago. My dad's children and some of his grandchildren shared many memories, experiences and stories of my father's influence in their lives. During the lunch that followed the service, we all agreed that it had been much too long since we had seen each other, and that we all must do a better job of staying in contact. After the service, my son Josh and I, drove to the Willow Glen part of San Jose so he could see my childhood home, and then we drove to Templo La Hermosa to see where his spiritual heritage was formed.
Our extended family and friends that attended today represent a wide variety of people, of education, of employment, and success. When it was all boiled down to the reality of our being together, none of that mattered. What did matter is that there was a lot of love in the room, even though it hadn't been expressed in a long time. Nobody loves you like your family. We decided today that even though a lot of miles separate us, we all must do a better job of staying in contact. My dad would have been proud today. Not just because of all the great things that were said about him, but because it brought together a wonderful set of people that shared the greatest human emotion - love.
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