Friday, December 21, 2007

One last laugh

My sisters and I stood at the front of the church after the services Wednesday, admiring the floral arrangements and reading the accompanying cards. Curiously, we didn’t find the one that I had ordered on behalf of Shirley, our brother and I, but there was an extra Peace Lily, so we assumed that was it and the card had been lost.

However, the next day, I called the florist and asked about it and it turns out the flowers I ordered had been delivered to a funeral service at the wrong church! The young man I spoke to was very apologetic, refunded my money and groveled quite satisfactorily, so I forgave him and hung up as quickly as I could to avoid laughing in his ear.

I had suddenly gotten an image of another grieving family, standing around admiring the flowers sent in memory of their departed loved one, and then one of them reads a card and asks, “Who in the heck are these people? I didn’t know we had an Uncle Mick.”

And then in my imagination, I thought I heard George chuckling somewhere in the background.

12 comments:

cdroses said...

*THUD* That was my head hitting the desk.

Thanks for the info! Now I still need to figure out where/who the other lily plant came from.

It is (almost) funny where we have been feeling his spirit and sense of humor. Kendra wanted to know if she could use the ashes like a pet, and take them for a walk. I can almost hear George telling her that that is something she could do!

Jim said...

Hi Janell -- That happened at Mema's (Mrs. Jim's mother's) last January. We (cousins) found them in the next room and got to meet and share a little with those folk also.

It was nice to read Joe B's post telling of his hectic life. He may be busier than our workaholic daughter. Her average work day is 12 hours and gets paid for eight.

I did leave a 'hello' comment there. It is nice that he likes Houston and beer with his sausage. Me too.
..
BTW, my diet says no sausage and meds say no alcohol. :-)

And yes, Adi really does work. She is a therapy dog, we visited an assisted living center this Tuesday. The folks in the Alzheimer's wing like her soooo much. That will be a future blog.
..

Sue said...

One advantage of living in a small town. Everyone knows whose funeral it is and where the flowers should be delivered.
Sue

Myrnagj said...

I sure hope my flowers got there. Flowers.com sent me an email that said they had been delivered.

Cliff said...

I'm not sure I have an empathy laugh.
Just kidding. Yes I do. That would have made me laugh too. Good post. Part of healing is learning to laugh again but never losing it in the first place is better yet. I fully expect my funeral to be full of laughs. I'm thinking of holding it a few days early so I can help.

Anonymous said...

Pretty funny Janelle, great story! Laughing is part of the healing process. That reminds me of an episode of Three's Company.

Jack (John Ritter) thought a wake, hosted at jack's bistro of course, was a retirement party and uncle XYZ was moving to florida.
He kept making comments like... I hope your uncle has sun screen...I hope your uncle has a safe trip down there...hope your uncle doesn't get burned...Its really hot where your uncle is going..

Janell said...

Taking Dad for a walk - Kendra is such a thoughtful daughter!

Yes, Myrna, your flowers made it. we saw your flowers and card - they were really pretty.

Good idea, Cliff! Maybe we should all do that. Hmmmm - I'm getting an idea for a post.

Jamie Dawn said...

Ahhh, it's good to have some humor interjected into a time of grief. It lightens the heaviness and helps us smile and laugh amidst the sadness.

Paul Nichols said...

That's a good one. Good thing you didn't order anything from Victoria's Secret!

Paul Nichols said...

It's almost Christmas Eve (after dark).

We want to wish you a very blessed and Merry Christmas. We hope the sun shines brightly for you on Christmas Day.

God bless.
Paul and Gloria Nichols
Kansas

Ralph said...

Yeah, he was chuckling.
Merry Christmas.
Ralph

Jim said...

Hi Janell,

........*
........♥
.......♥♥
.....~♥~♥~
.....♥~♥~♥
...~♥~♥♥~♥~
..♥~♥~♥♥~♥~♥
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
........[]

To you and your family, Merry Christmas!
..