Eric Bailey's

This trip to Estavan was not as rushed as the one a couple weeks ago, but it was with a heavier heart. What I feared last trip had already happened this trip. I know that my Grandpa was ready to go, he often talked about how he was ready, but I wasn't really ready. I did not have any big plans to spend a lot of time with him, or to try to learn something specifically from him. It is just being in his presence. I like to just be, to just hang out around my family. To sit and listen to them talk, argue, debate, and especially to hear the stories that they tell. And Grandpa could tell stories. People talked about Grandpa reciting poetry, and I will miss that too.

The funeral was different from Grandma's but it was in a lot of ways similar. Tim Pippus officiated, Wendell Bailey led singing, Uncle Robert read the eulogy, Uncle Tom and I gave readings, and Angel Erikson gave a testimony of Grandpa's impact on her life. All the Grandchildren that where there sang in a couple of songs. The songs that we sang as a congregation we the same songs that Erica had sung with Grandpa and Auntie Mary a couple of weeks ago. Between that and the songs talking about faith that holds even in the stormyness of life and as life fades into eternity ... it was difficult to sing some of these simple songs. I was able to understand why one song really bothered me on Good Friday - it was one of the songs Grandpa had chosen for his funeral - My Jesus I Love Thee.

Verse 3:
I'll love Thee in life, I'll love Thee in death
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew llies cold on my brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus 'tis now.