Brothers don't shake hands
The Commander and I have been in our house in Orange for about two and a half years. In September of 2003, I realized how much equity we had built up in our townhouse and was starting to get nervous that if we didn't trade up soon to a single family house we might just be stuck.
I decided to send the Commander out on a house hunting mission with our realtor brother-in-law during her month off in October.
That's when she met Orland, the previous owner of our house.
Our future house popped up on the MLS after it had fallen out of escrow and the Commander got over there to check it out before anyone else had a chance to.
Orland was a small man with a big voice. He was about to embark on his second marriage a year after his wife of 40+ years had passed away.
It's a good thing that I wasn't along for the Commander's visit to this house because I'm all business and the Commander likes to find out things about people.
After maybe a 15 minute conversation, the Commander was going to be the only person that Orland sold his house to.
As Orland shared his story about losing his first wife, his emotions would get the better of him. His eyes would well up with tears and he would bring his first to his mouth to stop the sadness from coming out.
The fist would stay in front of his mouth for 15 or 20 seconds...and then he would release the completed sentence in a rush to share the thought without shedding any tears or having his voice break.
I'm not worried about tearing up while speaking about my father at the funeral but I am worried about sounding like Orland.
I delivered my eulogy much like I had envisioned it. I did veer off of my script and told my dad's favorite joke that he used to embarrass me with while out to eat.
I also felt my voice begin to crack when I talked about the Chicken being born.
Fortunately, the Chicken saved me.
Just as I was about to break up, the Chicken heard me say her name and let out the biggest "HI!" you will ever hear during a funeral.
The sadness that had started to get the better of me was washed away by the joy that the Chicken exudes.
And I knew I was going to get through this.
As I wrapped up my final thoughts and shared with our guests why were were playing each selection of music, I thanked everyone for being there for us and then something strange happened.
Number 2 came over and gave me a hug.
I find myself on the verge of laughter because of a line from the Chris Farley movie, Tommy Boy.
"Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug."
VW
I decided to send the Commander out on a house hunting mission with our realtor brother-in-law during her month off in October.
That's when she met Orland, the previous owner of our house.
Our future house popped up on the MLS after it had fallen out of escrow and the Commander got over there to check it out before anyone else had a chance to.
Orland was a small man with a big voice. He was about to embark on his second marriage a year after his wife of 40+ years had passed away.
It's a good thing that I wasn't along for the Commander's visit to this house because I'm all business and the Commander likes to find out things about people.
After maybe a 15 minute conversation, the Commander was going to be the only person that Orland sold his house to.
As Orland shared his story about losing his first wife, his emotions would get the better of him. His eyes would well up with tears and he would bring his first to his mouth to stop the sadness from coming out.
The fist would stay in front of his mouth for 15 or 20 seconds...and then he would release the completed sentence in a rush to share the thought without shedding any tears or having his voice break.
I'm not worried about tearing up while speaking about my father at the funeral but I am worried about sounding like Orland.
I delivered my eulogy much like I had envisioned it. I did veer off of my script and told my dad's favorite joke that he used to embarrass me with while out to eat.
I also felt my voice begin to crack when I talked about the Chicken being born.
Fortunately, the Chicken saved me.
Just as I was about to break up, the Chicken heard me say her name and let out the biggest "HI!" you will ever hear during a funeral.
The sadness that had started to get the better of me was washed away by the joy that the Chicken exudes.
And I knew I was going to get through this.
As I wrapped up my final thoughts and shared with our guests why were were playing each selection of music, I thanked everyone for being there for us and then something strange happened.
Number 2 came over and gave me a hug.
I find myself on the verge of laughter because of a line from the Chris Farley movie, Tommy Boy.
"Brothers don't shake hands. Brothers gotta hug."
VW
posted by JVW at 7:45 PM
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