Hope

(n. the feeling that events will turn out for the best)

When Keith agreed to speak with a Bereavement Minister following his dad’s death, he was pretty certain that it would be a brief conversation to confirm a few quick prayers at the funeral home. Keith is unmarried and doesn’t have children, his mom passed when he was young and he and his brother hadn’t spoken in years, so who would even come to a funeral? But, as he and the minister got talking, Keith opened up about childhood memories of camping trips and ball games with his dad and his brother. By the end of the conversation, Keith agreed to meet at church and talk about what a funeral for Dad would look like. During the meeting at church, Keith opened up even more and quickly realized that his dad, a practicing Catholic until his death, would want a proper funeral. He called his brother, who agreed, and even volunteered Keith’s nephews and nieces to be readers and gift bearers at the Mass. Keith told the minister, “I know my dad is happy that my brother and I are speaking again. We’re even talking about spending Christmas together. We’ll see what happens!”