September 28, 2019

Hard to describe if this was a good day or a bad day. It was a beautiful day. It was a broken day. It was a day full of lament. It was a day to mourn the loss of someone who was a man among men. 

Music
In Christ Alone

How Great Thou Art

Solo - Erin Thompson

My Redeemer Lives

Piano

Luke Krause

Dance Video - Somebody you Loved, Charity and Andres Farewell Dance, Piano Guys

Pastors

Mike Poelzer

Chip Bernhard

Speakers

Bryce Unger

Julie VanDixhorn

If there is one person I can not live without it is Dave.

If there is one thing I knew Dave would never do, it would be to leave me.

If there is one thing that could destroy our family it would be to loose Dave.

So I wanted to say thank you for the million ways you have supported us. You can see all the acts of love on the screen and that is not all inclusive. You have been my army. Most recently I asked for letters about Dave that have honored and kept him alive in my life. We have had a number of people reference people who Dave is similar to; we have had a number of Jesus references all the way to Ace Ventura and Napoleon Dynamite with video links. So Thank You.

When Dave and I would talk in the last months I would say…

This wouldn’t be so bad if I did not love you so much.

This wouldn’t be so bad if you weren’t perfect for me.

This wouldn’t be so bad if my heart was different.

This wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t believe a man is crucial to the success of a family.

When Pastor Chip came over I said I had two questions for him. I asked him if the proportion of my love for Dave over everyone else in the world was normal. He said yes. The next questions I couldn’t ask. I was going to ask him if it was possible I loved Dave more than any wife loved their husband in the world. Then I thought this question is ridiculous and there is no way he can answer it. I think I found the answer in my old letters.

Read Letters

The first gift Dave gave me was a small file cabinet with pre-labeled files representing all the important areas of my life and future. My mind instantly filled those with dreams of our life. Dave helped me take every one of those areas from conception to reality, home, career, family, personal goals, health, and finance. We would always sit down 1-2 times a year and go over our goals together. This was a great gift to me.

In 1999 I gave this book to Dave. I would keep track of all the reasons I loved him and I would give them to him on his birthday. I bought this before we were even engaged and it should have lasted us until we were 85.

I know Dave loved you too, but I really got the absolute best of Dave.

Thank you again. I will keep the caring bridge site open as I still have to update a prayer for Luke, a prayer for me as a mom, a specific thank you to my family, AOD family, Signicast, what I have learned, a few other posts.

Lastly, later in the service there will be a video that helps me express my feelings towards Dave, our marriage, and love. Somethings can only be expressed kinesthetically.

And for the record I still think there was no way I could go wrong marring an older successful man who picked me up in this car with a cloth roof and hood ornament. You can tell me if you agree.