Today I attended the funeral of the dad of one of our Learners. One of our senior boys, not only attended, but honorably participated in the funeral for his dad.
I went to pay my respects at the funeral home at the last viewing of the dad of one of our senior young men. As it turned out, I was in for a life lesson. As I learned today, Eric is a mature 17-year old young man with a level-head, a deep-rooted love for family and a yearning to love and support his friends, family and everyone with which he comes in contact. Just as soon as I entered the funeral home, he introduced me to his mom and his younger brother and sister. Soon after, he was sharing memories of his dad through the hundreds of photos displayed. These photos captured precious memories of everyone in his family with a focus on dad. Eric expressed such heartfelt love, respect and adoration for this man. I kept hearing, "Mr. Rowe, I have learned so much from my dad." Eric shared his love for hockey and all the support his dad had provided for him and his teammates. I later learned that his teammates were either at the wake the prior evening or at the funeral today. In addition to Eric's immediate family, I had the pleasure to meet some of his uncles, his grandmother and grandfather. Come to find out, his grandmother had substituted for my classes when I had been out of school last year.
After a short walk to the church where the funeral was held, I was greeted by several of Eric's classmates. They were well-dressed, well-spoken and so appropriate given the situation. Upon arriving inside the church, I sat with Eric's classmates and teammates that filled about four pews. It was a sight to see nearly fifty respectful young men there to pay their respects and to support Eric. Eric's dad had influenced many of these classmates and hockey players. I was more than humbled by the way these young men represented themselves, their families and their community.
What had the greatest effect on me was when Eric made his way to the front of the church with his mom to eulogize his dad and her husband. Eric's mom initially spoke offering such love and commitment to her husband. She smoothly transitioned to enable Eric to speak as she gracefully stepped back and Eric approached the microphone. At that moment, my tears began to flow as they are at this moment. This 17-year old young man spoke with such strength, honor and gratefulness for the man his dad had been to him. Eric shared that his dad had been his best-friend, hero and role-model. Through Eric's words, he shared that he was committed to follow in his dad's footsteps and be a role-model and be there to love and support those with whom he connected. Eric conveyed that he knew he was now the man of the household and promised his dad that he would make him proud. This young man taught us a great deal today. I'm sure his dad is already so very proud of his son!
