April 27, 2023–My family hosted a Celebration of Life service this past Sunday at the Leland Lodge for Steph’s father, Jon Graber, who passed away recently from cancer. The Lodge is surrounded by a lake and golf course, two of Jon’s favorite things, which seemed the loving theme of many of the stories shared.
As the service was finishing up with a few of Jon’s retired friends helping us all capture the depth of this good man, Colebrook unexpectedly took the microphone, and in a dozen short sentences gave us a few more realizations about this good man and his influence on others. The power of a grandchild carrying Jon’s essence forward is such a salve for loss and everyone’s tears turned to smiles.
I haven’t slept well since Jon’s loss. I get tossed by little post-Jon worries and to-do lists. But I have learned to get up for a minute and walk around my house and feel the peacefulness. A few of these nights, if the weather isn’t so frigid, I step outside and reconnect with Jon, to a moment I had with him at the end, where he shared how fully at peace he was with the inevitable. The moon shadow over a perfectly calm lake reminds me that if Jon can leave his worries and to-do lists for eternity, I can do it for one restful night.
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