Saying Goodbye

October 8, 2007
Tuesday was the hardest day of my life to date. This would be the day that Mindy and I would bury our lovely little Callie Grace. As we arrived at the cemetery we were already emotional. Our families arrived shortly after with the pastors and we simply stood in waiting. The funeral director was late so we waited and talked for a while. After a short time I remember Mindy and I walked around the fountain at the front of the cemetery. We talked about the dreams and desires we had for our little girl. We discussed the heartache that we faced and how we would deal with the hurt during the upcoming weeks. Once the funeral director arrived we traveled to the gravesite. As we got out I remember looking at the small box our daughter was to be buried in and thinking it wasn’t so. Mindy and I cried as we thought about the fact that we will never see our little daughter again. As we started I remember Rick and Marilyn doing the service and asking us to share our hearts about Callie. Fighting back the tears I opened my mouth and began talking about my daughter. I shared my heart about what she meant to us and the love we had her. All I could really think about though was something Mindy had said, which was, “The first thing Callie saw when she opened her eyes was Jesus.” If we could all be so lucky to see our little girl who saw Jesus first and I wish I was that lucky. I wish that I would see Him and follow Him before anything else it would be great. My daughter is the luckiest person I know because she gets to spend her whole life in the arms of Jesus while we long to be reunited with Him and reunited with our daughter. After the service people began to leave and I sat by the small box and reminded my daughter once more of how much I love her. I remember crying so much and seeing our family shedding tears for us. I have never seen them weep the way they did before but I was reminded in those moments for their love for us. I remember crying and understanding what parents feel for the children for the first time. I understand what a parent’s love is for the first time. It’s not something you can describe or fully understand until you are in that position. A parent’s love, especially a father’s love for his daughter runs deep and I will never forget my Callie Grace as her name will forever be etched on daddy’s heart.