Rebecca made the decision to have Chris laid to rest in Salt Lake City, next to his father. There was a second funeral in Salt Lake City to honor Brent as well as Chris again since so much of his life was in Salt Lake. This time, Troy was honored to be asked to speak, since he has also been close to Brent. I'll include his beautiful talk at the end of this post.
There had been so much emotion over the past few weeks, especially in Virginia. I think by the time the
Salt Lake funeral happened everyone was a little numb and worn out. There was only so much emotion that one can experience. I think Troy and I were a little exhausted. But gathering again, this time including so many more Salt Lake friends were able to be there. I was touched though to meet again with new friends we made in Virginia, who clearly were not going to leave Rebecca's side.
Not only did Troy share his tender thoughts, but we were also able to hear from Chris's mom and two sisters as well as Rebecca again. What strength she has shown us.
The cemetery was cold and quiet, and the weather fit the emotions of the day - raining and covered in clouds. Huddling together with loved ones was appreciated in many ways.
The best photos of all. Troy with his troop of friends, fondly dubbed "The Oly Studs," both then and now:
I think it's now that the hard part comes. Funerals are tough, exhausting, and emotional. But there is a huge gathering of love and support. It's now, a month later, when people roll back into their normal lives. I'll never forget that life will never again be normal for our friends. We have tried our best to support Rebecca and her sons from across the country. I have tried to ask Troy often about his thoughts and feelings, knowing that when a friend dies, the absence leaves a hole forever. I'm grateful for my faith.
Here's Troy's talk from the funeral:
Brothers and sisters, it is a privilege to stand before you all today to spend a few
minutes together. I pray that the spirit will carry my words to your hearts and that we
can all be uplifted and have our faith strengthened today while we mourn the loss of
Brent and Chris, but also celebrate the lives of these wonderful men.
Writing this talk as allowed me to take a step back away from my 4-decade long
friendship with Chris and look at the man that he was and is in a way I never did before.
In this process, I have recalled many memories shared with Chris. There was the time
that we climbed angels landing at night by the light of a full moon and spent half the
night out there. Please do not ever climb Angels landing at night. Its not safe. There
was the week in late October of 1996 when Halls Creek Bay was a sheet of glass for 3
straight days and we water skied so much that we started losing skin from our hands.
But those recollections only tell you that Chris was a fun loving and adventurous man.
What probably none of you know, is that in our senior year of high school, my beloved
but not so reliable VW rabbit died and I did not have enough money to get it fixed. Now
for the young people here, that may not sound like a big deal, but know that back then,
to be connected socially, you had to leave your house and go to where your friends
were. When my car died, and it was dead not for just a couple of days, it was dead for
weeks. Lots of weeks. I was cut off from social contact and after school activities,
pretty much everything, or I would have been if Chris had not just picked me up from my
house and driven where I needed to go for weeks. Chris was always loyal and
generous. This was one of the first big examples of that from our youth. There are
many more examples that I do not have time to share today.
Chris is a best friend and a brother. Brent is a father figure and a mentor. Brent wanted
us to be better than we were, he wanted us to not let fear hold us back in life. These
sound like good things, and they are, but sometimes when you are a teenager and
make the mistake of saying out loud that you think a girl is cute within earshot of Brent
things could become uncomfortable.
Once I was with the Mackay family at Deer Creek for some water skiing and made the
fatal mistake of saying out loud that I thought that the girl at the entrance booth was
cute. Immediately Brent said something to affect “so what are you going to do about it”.
He then pulled the suburban up to the booth so that my window was next to the booth
window, he then did me the favor of rolling my window down for me so I could ask the
cute girl out. Now under duress, I did ask her out and she politely told me that she
already had a boyfriend. I should have known better than to say this out loud, because
this was not the only time Brent did this to me. I did end up going on some dates I
would not have otherwise because of Brent’s encouragement.
I work with the young men of my stake and at ward conferences, YM activities, and YM
campouts, there some things that get repeated to the YM. One of them is this: take out
your ear buds out, and put down you phone. Give the Lord quiet time and space to
teach you and heal you.
One of my favorite scriptures and one that I think communicates this idea well is found
in psalms 46:10. It reads, Be still and know that I am God. This scripture asks for more
than quiet, it asks for stillness. Stillness includes calm and quiet. It is in moments of
stillness that our pondering can bring divine teaching.
If you will please indulge me this day, I would like to add a bit to psalms 46:10 with the
following and pray that the spirit will help us all understand these truths.
Psalms 46:10.1 Be still and know that our spirits are eternal and live on after separation
from our mortal bodies
Psalms 46:10.2 Be still and know that families who are sealed in the holy temple are
families for eternity
Psalms 46:10.3 Be still and know that the veil between our world and the spirit world is
at times very thin.
Psalms 46:10.4 Be still and know that our savior Jesus Christ atoned for us not just that
we can be redeemed in the next life, but that we can be healed in this life
Psalms 46:10.5 Be Still and know that on the third day Christ did resurrect and because
of this we will all be resurrected one day.
Psalms 46:10.6 Be still and know that we are all children of heavenly parents who know
us and love us and want us to return to their presence.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
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