Eulogy

“If you are going to do something, do it right.”

My dad must have said this phrase over a thousand times to my knowledge, and I really believe he meant it every time. There are so many things I want to tell everyone about my dad, about how proud I am to be his son. But what I have been learning over the past few days is that, for the most part, you already know a lot these things. You might already know how devoted he was to his family, to his friends, and to the kids he coached in baseball and in life. You might already know that he was able to capture the joy in the tiniest of moments, and that if you were someone lucky enough to receive love from my dad it was the kind of love that stuck with you. My guess is that’s part of the reason why you’re here. Because when Dad was finally freed from his tired old body, the messages and prayers started flooding in. That’s about the time I realized I wasn’t the only one who understood how great of a man, a father, a coach, a boss, and a follower of Christ he was. So my hope is that now, while we are all here together on his behalf, amidst the mourning of the loss of a truly wonderful man, we can celebrate how he lived his life and the things he did, because he did them right.

My mom always tells one of my favorite stories of Dad. He was a victim of the unfortunate mustache trend in 1986, among many others I am sure, and on the day God brought me into this world, he had his proudly on display. But when all was said and done, and I was tightly wrapped in my little blanket, Dad realized that his mustache certainly wasn’t suitable for my sensitive skin. So he ran home and shaved it all off. He came back smooth-skinned and probably showered me with hundreds of kisses. He wasn’t going to let a mustache keep him from being close to me. He was going to love me, and he was going to do it right.

One of my greatest fears has been that I would first remember the long battle with cancer before anything else about my dad. I was afraid I would remember the weakened and frail body he wore for the last months he was with us. I was mostly afraid I would equate the fear, anxiety and frustration I felt with Dad when remembering our time together. But upon looking back, I realized that when faced with the task of leaving this world behind, my dad gave us what is perhaps the most important message of all. Day after day, no matter how he felt, my dad praised God. Facebook was constantly plastered with his words of encouragement and wisdom. His joy in Christ is perhaps best described by the last thing he posted, “Tell your loved ones how much they mean to you. Give them hugs, real hugs! Be thankful for each and every blessing. Live life big!”

So while it breaks my heart to say goodbye to my dad, I really pray that this message might stick with us all; that we may live life big like my dad, and that we may all experience that powerful love of Jesus that filled him with so much joy.

So dad, as you go to be with God, I think 1 Chronicles 16:31 says it best:

“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

Let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”