carolyn's big brother

Carolyn had called on Thursday night, sad and upset.

She found out that the church her big brother had attended for decades was having a memorial service for him on Saturday and neither she nor his brother Ron were going to be there.

He could not leave his ill wife and she had not been able to find anyone who could take her to north Georgia.

I knew I was not the one to do so.

I cannot allow myself to drive at night, as my reflexes are still very slow from the anesthesia - yes, after all this time.

What to do to help?

The answer came from my viewing earlier of The Rolling Stones performing "You Can't Always Get What You Want" on LIVEnow, with the lyrics reminding me "that if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need".

Was Big Canoe Chapel large enough to have a presence on youTube?

First, I located its webpage for the regular services, sending the link to Carolyn.

Then, there it was... the featured video, along with a separate link, was the live stream of the service for her brother, Harry Yarbrough, scheduled for 11 AM on Saturday!

I sent those links to her, too, and she shared them with Ron and his wife, so they could tune in, and all watch together, virtually, as though they were in greatly separated pews.

Carolyn took it one step further: she chose to go out to their parents' graves at Bonaventure Cemetery and 'watch' with them.

I watched here, along with 21 others 'attending' from afar instead of in person.

(I would have invited Carolyn to watch with me, but she is still getting over having COVID and Influenza B two weeks ago.)

The service was a little over an hour in length, not including the fifteen minutes of hymn medleys on the piano at the intro.

The grandson Tyler spoke, followed by the granddaughter Amber, who had sweet stories about Papa.

Next up was the son, Boyd, who related some of the same stories as his daughter.

Then, the pastor had talked of all the good that Harry and his wife JoBeth had done for the church and the county, in obedience of the two greatest commandments: to love God, and to love thy neighbor.

Boyd then sang "Thank You", a tune that celebrated all who give of their time to others.

Harry had served in the US Air Force and a duet of those men were there, with this one saluting the folded flag while the other played "Taps".

Then both took the flag and unfolded it, briefly displaying it in its full glory before methodically refolding it.

The entire process was performed in total silence.

Total, complete, silence.

No throat clearing, no whispers, no sound at all for the ten minutes of the procedure.

Finally, the flag was presented to Harry's son and the memorial service was done.

The pianist returned to her station, playing familiar old hymns as the family departed, then continuing on as the pews emptied.

I'm glad I was there.

I know how it is to lose a brother to death.

We have not yet held the celebration of his life, nor closed out his estate in the eyes of the law.

Now, though, I need to check on Carolyn.