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Thread: During a Jesuit's funeral last night, his niece said, "my uncle was never one to talk about himself" & shared how she believed he would want her to thank the people who cared for him in his alzheimer's years instead of telling stories about him and how great he was.
So she thanked people who returned his library books, ate popcorn with him in the afternoons, didn't shy away from him when he was confused, planned celebrations at the infirmary, woke up with him in the middle of the night when he thought he needed to go say Mass.
She thanked the the kitchen staff of the infirmary who let him sit in the dining room while they cleaned and played music for him, she thanked the people who prayed for him, who asked about him, who drank coffee with him when he'd show up 2 hours before breakfast.
It reminded me of Dan Berrigan's funeral when Dorothy Day's granddaughter prayed "for those who use bedpans and for those who clean them." It is so easy to pay way more attention to the large scale drama than to the small, tender intimacies of daily life that mean so much.
I'm grateful to this woman who honored her uncle in such a humble and holy way and who reminded us that when we see holiness in others, the best way to honor it is trying to imitate it.
