Prairie Funeral
Feb. 19, 2010
“I’m gonna miss that smile” was the song’s theme that was played at my uncle’s funeral on Wednesday.
My uncle died last Saturday after a ten-year battle with cancer, so it wasn’t a surprise death, but none the less sad for the family to see the youngest brother of my father say good-bye to life.
Dick was a cowboy, both in life style and work, and that was the theme of his funeral in Oklahoma and the burial yesterday here in Kansas. Even the cowboy preacher that conducted the service was laid back and informal, telling stories of Dick’s family, and giving comfort…in a quiet country way.
As we drove south through the Oklahoma prairie to the little town where the funeral was held, I could imagine what this countryside looked like more than a century ago before the Land Rush. It would have been grass, wildlife, and an occasional human passing through the scene. It just fit the quiet man and his lifestyle.
It was fitting that Dick was laid to rest back in the prairie country cemetery where his ancestors were waiting for him. They came from Sweden for this country prairie, and never left. Dick got the chance to come back to the land he loved too.
“We’re gonna miss his smile…”
