During my dad’s memorial service, I remember standing in the line at the wake…I had probably hugged and greeted hundreds of people. I was in a fog…just going through the motions. A break in the line gave me a moment to stop and take in what was all happening. I sat down for a moment. Then I noticed the excruciating pain in my feet and my back from standing all day. My eyes were stinging and my head was pounding. I then looked over at my dad lying peacefully in his casket and then I looked at the steady line of people out the door. The line went far into the parking lot. It was like that for 6 hours straight. I kept looking back and forth from my dad’s casket to the line…it was like I was watching a tennis match. To the left of me was the cold, lifeless body of an amazing man and to the right were hundreds of warm bodies shuffling and sniffling through the line. I was in absolutely awe. I actually started laughing to myself at one point. The amount of people who showed up to pay their respects was absolutely incredible.

The shock you experience when someone dies saves you. It holds you up for a while so you are able to pick out caskets, plan services, and stand in line. I don’t really remember a lot of what happened immediately after my dad died…but after the tennis match realization at the wake…I returned to the game a whole different person. I stood back in line and no longer felt the pain in my body.  I was no longer going through the motions. I stood in that line eager to hear everyone’s story, everyone’s condolence, and everyone’s gratitude. I stood there listening and learning what life was all about.My dad saved lives and made people feel better but that wasn’t the incredible part to me. The incredible part was hearing each and every person use words like “kind”, “compassionate”, “patient”, “caring”, “funny”, “loving”, “adventurous”, and “calm”.  I recall these stories time and again to not only help make grieving easier but to also motivate me to always be upping my game.When I stood over my father’s casket for the last time, I replayed the events again in my head. Thinking of those hundreds of people and how they had what my father no longer did. They had life. Some had life because of him. I had life. We all had life. I walked away as two men shoveled dirt on top of him thinking, “Was this enough to get them to start living?” It was for me.

Up your game…get into the match of life and put more into your relationships with people. When you look at your life, what are you serving? Are you serving kindness and love or are you serving faults and lets?