Tucking Judy In

She had a tough time

We didn’t know

Decades

I gladly drove the three hours

To the church my mother was raised in

My brother and I

Went through the line

The brothers

And sisters

Of Judy

We listened to the remembrances

From her brother Paul

A devout and gifted evangelist

Who led us in the 23^rd Psalm

Inserting Judy’s name for each personal pronoun

Eloquent

As was Judy’s nephew

In his words about his aunt

The two tributes were rich

Cousin Paul spoke of journeys

Judy’s having ended here on earth

Our journey continuing

Until we would join Judy

And all those who went before her

Sweetness permeated all descriptions of Judy

She had the little girl sweetness

I thought this as I watched the attendants from the funeral home

They performed the ritual

With guidance from the director at the back of the church

One of them had trouble with the candlestick placement

But he persisted

They pulled back the cover on the casket

They gently pulled up the flaps of cloth

At Judy’s side

Folding it inside

And used the same care

With the cloth above her head

Gently nestling it above her hair

Then slowly the lid was closed

And the casket turned

There was a sweetness to the movements

A ceremony

It was like they were tucking in a little baby

A sweet little baby

In her crib.