Funerals Are So Sad

We buried our Uncle Larry today. It was incredible hard. It was so sad thinking of all we will miss. It was hard to see others that were taking it very hard. He meant something so special to so many of us. Last night the funeral home was packed for the entire time, right up until it was time for the funeral home to close. Today the church was packed with people whose lives he impacted in his short 55 years. With all the storms he weathered and made it through during his life, it doesn't seem fair to me that he should be gone now. He worked so hard to provide for his family, cared for others along the way, took care of his wife through a rough pregnancy with twins, a surprise pregnancy kind of late in their lives and his wife's cancer. Through it all he maintains his smile and sense of humor. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that it is over. That he won't get to enjoy a calm season of life now that they had overcome and made it through such tough tests. He never lost faith though. I have to believe his faith has carried him through and he is with the God that he loved and guided him through those storms. My heart aches with all the things his family will do in their lives that he won't be there to share. I am also mourning for myself. I feel guilty for it. Uncle Larry was my go to guy when it came to the photography that I love. We talked about the art of it, techniques and the different cameras and features as they came out. I also loved having philosophical discussions with him. He was always able to present a different point of view for me to consider or point out a detail that I had not noticed. 
Funerals are so sad because it is right there. The finality of it all. The end of a journey. And we leave that place knowing that our journey has to continue without someone that had become woven into the fabric of our being, someone that had an important and cherished role, one that con not be filled by another. From experience I know the pain of the loss will soften a little even as it never goes away,and the memories of the fun times and the smile beaming out from photos will help keep Uncle Larry close to us and in our heart forever.
But today it still hurts. A LOT.