More Than Meets the Eye, True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife covers many aspects of the dying and grieving process and sheds light on euthanasia, suicide, near-death experience, and spirit visits after the passing of a loved one. ___________________________________________

Friday, January 2, 2009

My grandmother asked me to play and sing for her funeral

She has whole thing planned out but the date, which she assures me is coming soon. Sure, my voice will cooperate and be just lovely while I'm crying my eyes out. No big deal!

I wrote about my grandmother, who we call Nanny, in some of my earlier posts on this blog. See November 2008 for details, but to catch you up, she's age 92, and she fell and broke her hip and arm on November 7. She will never walk again and really hates being incapacitated. She's ready to go, just waiting for her ride--not the hoist we use to get her in and out of bed, but the Great Chariot ride in the sky.

Part of her funeral plan, includes having me play piano and sing "Amazing Grace" with my cousin Carla--just like we used to when we were teenagers. It's not that I don't possess the talent to fulfill Nanny's request. I sang solo and played for the church choir and congregation for a thousand years. Okay, it was more like 25 years, but it seemed like an eternity ago. If it was someone else's funeral--like someone I don't know or like--I could probably manage, but I'm sure my voice and emotional condition are not going to let me perform this feat for the grandmother who practically raised me.

I have to tell Nanny I can't sing at her shindig, but how do I tell her Carla will do it without me? I suppose I should tell Carla first since she's in charge of the high notes.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

@HolisticSchools I was able to sing at my uncle's funeral, but I'm so close to my grandmother, I cry to even think about her not being here.

I think a good compromise will be for me to play the song while the congregation sings it and someone else leads it.