Flying Lessons

Danny Looney's recent post about negotiating with Uncle Joe to spend the night with Uncle Junice triggered a memory about the two of them that I haven't shared with anyone yet. 

I was a pallbearer at Uncle Joe's funeral. His funeral was held in the chapel of the Bailey Funeral Home in Elkhorn City. The chapel runs almost the entire length of the funeral home, with seating for the choir and a pulpit at the end near the river. The casket and flowers were arranged in front of the pulpit.

When the funeral began we pallbearers were ushered up to the front row on the left-hand side of the chapel. The family was seated to the right. I ended up near the outside end of the row.  I recall Johnnie Looney was beside me on my right. From my position, I could see around the casket, the pulpit and the flowers. The back wall of the chapel had a large window wall that looked out onto the river behind. The water is swift moving at this spot and the woods growing right down to the water's edge made a very picturesque scene.  

The funeral service began and was well underway when something outside the window caught my eye. Over the river I could see a young hawk, flying in small circles, dropping down to twenty or thirty feet above the river and then flapping its wings to climb higher before dropping again. After a few seconds another hawk appeared, this one larger and more steady in its circling. It appeared to be an older sibling, or perhaps a parent of the first hawk. It seemed to be keeping an eye on the younger bird, always nearby, ready to lend assistance if needed. 

The two birds circled there above the water for what felt like a long time, but it was probably only two or three minutes at most. I got the impression that they were hunting something in or near the water, but they never landed and soon lifted up and climbed out of view. The younger bird seemed to be still learning to use its wings and maybe the older was giving him flying lessons. 

After they disappeared it occurred to me that maybe a similar scene was being played out in Heaven at that very moment. Maybe Uncle Junice was there, teaching Uncle Joe how to use his new wings. Just possibly, Uncle Joe was testing his wings, circling above the streets of Heaven, with Uncle Junice flying right along beside. Think how happy they both would be, to be together again!

That thought brought a tear to my eye, not a tear of sorrow but one of hope. I hope they are both there to give us all flying lessons someday. 

As we left the funeral home for the trip to the cemetery, I looked for the two hawks but could not see them anywhere. 

Posted by Clyde