When you walk....

Last week a young guy that my wife had been working with very closely dies of cancer, it's an illness he has been fighting for almost 18 months. His funeral was on monday and was attended by over 40o people, and what a testimony he gave. Richard was 23 part of a great family, a karaoke singer, all round nice guy and a christian. While it was often hard to know where Richard was with God, the sicker he got the closer he came, and that became evident to everyone. I've been to a few funerals but this was by far the most powerful.
As we walked in the Cure, friday i'm in love was playing - a favourite karoke tune...
The service was introduced as a celerbration which seems quite odd at the time but as the ervice progressed we certainly had heaps to celerbrate.
A high light for me was the photo montage that Richard put together (actualy he put most of the service together in his last few weeks). His life story in photo's - a smile on his phone almost permanantly, with the Elvis track walk on playing in the background. I guess that kind of reflected Richard's humour, a real tear jerker song, but also a great kaaroke number. To the last Richard was having a bit of fun, though he was only 23 he lived life to the full, and was a peacemaker - and a blessing to all who got to know him.
I guess it will be a while before we see him again, but there is an oldish painting The Boulevard of Broken Dreams that comes to mind when I think of Richard. There is Elvis, James Dean, and others sitting around talking, the difference is that in my vision of it Richard is there belting out another Karaoke tune, happy because he is with out pain and because he is with his Lord...