The angels cried for Caroline today. How could they not, looking down
from the heavens, watching the mourners pack Blessed Sacrament Church.
The funeral service was attended by hundreds, those closest to her,
those who knew her, and those who knew of her. Those who could not
attend found time to pray for her soul. One found the time to write
about her.
Her closest friends were there, and they too cried for Caroline. A
number had been with her just days before, on Super Bowl Sunday, both to
watch the game and to celebrate the 36th birthday of one of their own.
These were friends who had met in high school or college, and 15, 20
years later they were still close, most of them now married, and with
children of their own.
It was mayhem in that house that day. Children seemingly everywhere,
all young, the oldest almost seven, and the youngest but two weeks old.
That was Caroline's new daughter, (Caroline) Greer. There were smiles
and there was laughter, with children chasing children, parents chasing
children, and occasionally a child chasing grandparent. It was glorious
cacophony, and yet in that house some knew the story, and were worried.
Now they were all in that church, praying for her soul, praying for her
children, still trying to make sense of the tragedy -- crushed.
Caroline's husband Justin steeled himself to deliver the heart-wrenching
eulogy while his oldest son Brock, just six years old, stood by his
side for strength.
The parents of Caroline's friends were there, and they cried as well.
Some hadn't known her condition. One had taken her aside at that Super
Bowl party to tell her that her baby was about the loveliest child he'd
ever seen, and then remarking on Caroline's own beauty, he said she too
looked radiant. That man's wife was more perceptive. She knew the story
and she was concerned. She had found Caroline gaunt and tired, no matter
how much she smiled. Take care of yourself, she advised Caroline. You
need your rest. You have a new baby to feed.
Caroline's
three children were at the church. At six, Brock was old enough to be
given the news, but too young to understand it, so his father offered an
explanation surely crafted with the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit.
Justin told his boy that the firemen had gone upstairs and found his Mom
talking to God. God was asking her to go with Him to heaven, and she
needed to do His bidding. She asked God if she might still be able to
send her love to her children. God replied that she could always talk to
her children. Your mother is still here, Brock's father explained to
his little boy. You just can't see her.
Brock will remember his mother. Cullen, aged two, will know of her.
Beautiful little Greer will learn she is alive only because of
Caroline's faith. The children were too young to cry for their mother,
so their aunts and uncles and grandparents cried for them instead.
Caroline was a devout Catholic, one of eight children, natural and
adopted. Four sisters and both her parents joined Justin as eulogists.
One recalled that one week after delivering little Greer, Caroline had
attended a niece's four-year old birthday party but left early because,
she explained, she needed to get to Mass. Her sister insisted that
surely Caroline would be excused from her obligation given her
circumstances. Caroline admitted she was tired, but would not hear of
it. "I get anxious when I don't go, and when I go, it sets my week," she
replied. Her friends said she could be found on any Sunday in the front
row of Blessed Sacrament with her children at her side.
No one knew better than her husband Justin exactly how trying her pregnancies were, and no one was more anxious. Twice before she'd suffered emergency C-sections. But this was a woman who loved children, and even more, loved her faith. "If God grants me a child, I will bear that child." It was as simple as that. She became pregnant a third time. The childbirth was almost catastrophic.
Caroline left the hospital with her lovely baby, but was not well. Three weeks later she collapsed. Caroline was 32. One friend said of her, "She was the best of us all." The angels cried for Caroline, and then they took her home.