Author: Ron Baker

We started at 2:00 this afternoon.  By 3:30 the funeral service was completed. 

I’m not used to 1 1/2 hour funerals.  Sounds boring to me!!

But you have to understand Mary. 

She was a born storyteller and an intense listener.  When you were with her you knew she was concentrated on  you.  And she would keep your funny bone tickled!

Imagine those she gathered around her!  Born storytellers and intensely interested in you!

Put them on the platform to speak and you have laughter and crying and not a moment wasted!

Did I enjoy the funeral?  As Mary would have said, with two thumbs up — “You betcha!!”

I can see God, whom she loved, sitting down with Mary and sharing a laugh right now!

So what are some of the old sayings you remember?

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.  (But if no one flushed the bushes we’d never be able to invite company over!)

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you!  (Might work on a nine year old, but talk to anyone at the half century mark and see if that applies!)

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.  (OK, most of the time except with toast — then its just burned!)

A penny saved is a penny earned.  (I’m not so sure.  The effort to earn a penny in a business transaction has become a negative investment balance nowadays!)

Try your hand at some old sayings.  Do they still ring true?

Monday at 2:00 is the funeral for Mary Muir – here at the Alliance Church.

Mary was a truck driver in her young age – in fact at 22 (1962) she had a piece written about her in the Vancouver Province.  The columnist mentions that she took particular interest in down and out women – those from skid row who needed someone to care for them.  She would bring them to church and lead them to know Jesus.

No wonder Mary ended up in the caring profession in the years that followed.  One of her areas of work was addictions counselling.  She was a great listener.  And confidential to the end.  She would sit with people for hours as they worked through their physical pain from withdrawal.  She was loyal.

Two nights ago over fifteen friends dropped in to see her, even though she was pretty well in a comatose state.  No one can say that her quiet, comforting and caring spirit has not reaped its benefits.  I could wish to die that well!

Wednesday night at 10:50 she was listening to her three friends sing familiar hymns of God and heaven.  She slipped from this world of song to the next of angelic hosts welcoming her with music beyond compare.

Mary – enjoy your new life!!

One of my sisters just bought a piano that looks just the same as our old piano.  As kids we would  bang, caress and generally blow the guts out of the piano.  It sat in various rooms, a testament to my mother’s desire that we would all have some musical training.  We all sang – four part harmony the result!!  I was employed as a music director.  Others in the family have put their hand to shaping music for the upcoming generation.

Now, another sister has bought a dog that looks just the same as our old dog.  A Bichon with fluffy white fur and bright eyes.  My deceased brother became the dog handler.  In older age my parents found him a great companion.

My next question was whether we should buy a new dining room table (we inherited the old one).  The old table creaks and groans and tips at the most inopportune times.  I’ve suggested that we get one that is stable and pristine. 

To which my sister replied:   “But then it wouldn’t be the same, now would it?? “