The following is taken from a funeral I performed on 3/18/10.  Please note that names have been changed.

“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30

While I do have the occasion to perform funerals for our hospice patients from time to time, it’s not often that I get to include a eulogy.  I always have some sort of message where I try to speak of what I learned from this person, or provide some words of comfort.  But I usually don’t know the person whom I am speaking of well enough to provide an actual eulogy.  However I did know Norman more than I knew almost all of our patients because we had him on for over two years – he outlasted most of our other patients and several of our own staff.  But Norm was also different because he and I could talk and actually get to know each other.  That’s relatively uncommon in my line of work.  So I wanted to speak not only of what Norm taught me, but of him as a person and a friend. Continue reading →