Together to Say Goodbye

This is St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Elkader. It was the church of my mom's childhood, it's where she and my dad were married, and it's where her funeral was held. It's a very pretty church, but like many Catholic churches, isn't as vibrant as it once was. Today, one priest is assigned to this church and four others in the area. I'm glad it's still around and that we could be here to say goodbye to my mom. And, after her funeral, to bury both of my parents together.

It seemed entirely fitting to bury my parents together in St. Joseph's cemetery. If the truth be told, my dad, who died four years ago, wasn't very fond of Elkader, and it wasn't his wish to be buried here. But what he wanted for himself could not be accomplished, and once we realized that, Mom said she wanted Dad with her. So that's what we did. 

The funeral and burial were beautiful. Father John Haugen, who is pastor of St. Joseph and four other parishes, presided. I couldn't imagine a better priest. While he didn't know my mom, he made the entire service so personal. And he made us all feel so comfortable and so welcome. He was just great. These smiles are real.

Normally I'm in picture-taking mode. But on this day I wasn't. I'm so glad that my dad's cousin Sue, who's here with me and my sisters Kelle and Kathy and our brother Steve, was there with her husband Bob and took some group photos. (She's also the one who took the picture of me and Kelle with Father Haugen.) 

After the funeral luncheon, we did what any self-respecting Irish Catholic family does after a funeral: we went to a bar. Downtown Elkader's other restaurant happens to be Feeney's, an Irish pub, and it was a great place to hang out. This is Mary and Andy with our niece Lauren and our nephew Brian. All twelve of my parents' grandchildren were there, and it would have delighted my mom to know they were all in Elkader at the same time.

We were practically in Packers country, as Troy discovered when she got her beer. Sitting around and decompressing after an emotional day was just what we all needed. And thankfully, we still had another full day to be together.