In my last post I mentioned that my sister’s husband Sean was going through a serious illness and that my sister was being kept busy being at the hospital with him and also preparing for his care upon his return to their home.
It is with great sadness and shock that I tell you
that Lisa’s husband Sean, the love of her life passed away quietly in the
hospital with his wife and two of his sons by his side. Their other two sons
were with him via Facetime. His passing was unexpected and his illness
progressed much faster than the doctors had anticipated.
Needless to say, my sister Lisa is devastated,
they had been married for 32 years and had four sons, their sons’ wives and
eleven grandchildren. Sean was only 57 years of age upon his passing, too
young, way too young to have been taken from his family.
Sean’s funeral services were extraordinary! I
believe he would have been so proud to have known what a beautiful sendoff he
was given. He had lived in our small city almost his whole life, he went to
school here, his boys all went to school here, he was well known and well-loved
in the community.
Sean had a beautiful visitation at the local
funeral home, it was a packed house and there was a Catholic Rosary recited for
him, then a Pastor that was also his cousin said some words and recalled the
last few times he had seen Sean. His sons wanted people to have the opportunity
to share their memories of their father. Several people spoke including his
sons and their wives. The most poignant speech for me was his granddaughter, you
all know her as Baby J and I have shared many posts about her on my blog. Baby
J loved her Poppa as she called him, as she named him since she is the oldest
grandchild. She was so brave and reminded us that he was the best cop then she
turned to her own dad and said “you are a good cop too daddy, but Poppa was the
best.”
I shared a few words because of all the things
that everyone said about him, no one mentioned his Heart of Service. He was
someone that was always willing to help, someone that would do things without
being asked. There was never a time that he came to my house that he didn’t
throw out the trash, he just did it. He was ready to run errands before anyone
else, he always stood up and gave his seat to any one new coming in, whether it
was in the living room or in the kitchen. I found out about so many other kindnesses he did that I didn't even know about. One being that he would make breakfast burritos for the gardeners that came to mow his lawn on Mondays.
He was the main person I knew I could count on
when it came to Christmas tamale making time. He was the main person I counted
on when I needed to move and needed muscle and a truck. He was always generous with Lisa’s time when I need a
girl’s night out or a weekend getaway.
Sean was also a great giver of his time and gifts.
He would stop by our house often, randomly, with flowers for my mom and
sometimes for me as well, or he would bring her donuts or Twinkies, never
arriving empty handed. Many aunts recounted at this funeral that he often
brought them flowers as well. He had a true heart of service to his family, far
and wide.
The day of his funeral we showed up first at the
funeral home, one last time for his family to be with him before he was taken
to the church for the Mass of Christian Burial. His four sons and a grandson,
plus his brother and his best friend were all casket bearers.
When we arrived at the church there was an Honor
Guard of Correctional Officers, all volunteering their time to be there for
their brother Sean. Sean had been a Correctional Office for almost 17 years.
They lined the steps to the church and when we walked in behind the casket the
church was packed! I have never seen the church this packed ever for a funeral.
The Mass was beautiful and the Priest gave a lovely sermon. After the Mass we
had a procession out of the parking lot and Lisa’s wish was that the hearse
drive by their home of 32 years so that he could be at his house one more time,
since he never made it out of the hospital. I cry as I write this because it
was such a bittersweet moment. Rick, the funeral director and dear friend to
Lisa and our family stopped the hearse in the street in front of their house,
he got out of the hearse and just stood there accompanying Sean is taking one
last look at his home. Lisa and I and Baby J and his son Edward were in the car
behind them, overcome with emotion. Then Rick got back in and we drove in
procession to the cemetery.
There is still so much I want to recount about his service because someday we will want to look back on this and remember every moment, so I'm going to post this for now and continue it in the next few days.
