Goodbye, Ol' Chap

I just watched Gordon B. Hinckley's funeral service, broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, and at the end, I was touched by the image of his family and his brethren in the church's leadership lining the exit as his casket was quietly wheeled out to the peaceful tune of "God Be With You Til We Meet Again". I wept as I watched him exit, one last time, from that building in which I have, many times, seen him speak with such love, sincerity, and plainness and then humbly and spunkily walk out, waving his cane, maybe tapping someone here and there. Then I smiled through the tears at the thought that maybe he was, in spirit, joining his family and friends in the Conference Center, lined up for his body's exit, and that maybe, with a charming gleam in his eye, he tapped his spiritual cane on his casket as it passed by and said some clever quip.

I'm going to miss him.