Come to Me . . .

. . . all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

My father-in-law passed away early this afternoon. He was a good man, who, more than anything on this earth, loved his family. For many years, he wore a facade that masked the tenderness this photograph reveals, but it was always there.

So far, it's been kind of a confusing day. Marv was taking care of Bjorn and Mathias when the call came. Instead of calling me, he called Cameron. I think he thought he could be strong talking man-to-man with someone. Cameron brought me home, and Dustin came shortly thereafter. Once the boys' mother came to pick them up, Marv and our boys went over to Grandma's house. I stayed behind with thoughts that no one needs to be coughed on right now. As our local newspaper is published only twice a week, I encouraged Marv to get the date and time of the funeral set so that it can appear in the paper that's printed tomorrow. He just called. The funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

I can imagine that there will be a lot of activity during the next few days, and from experience, I also believe that time will seem to pass very slowly. Marv had committed himself to taking care of Bjorn and Mathias tomorrow, because their daycare is closed. That's still what he wants to do. In fact, because their mother has something going on tomorrow evening, he offered to keep them for the night. I know why. He's a lot like his dad was.