Honey in the Rain

Royce was a wonderful old guy with a great love for animals (he was a vet), gardening (he was a farmer), and family (he was an exceptional dad). Sitting at his memorial service in Seattle several weeks ago, I watched as family members eulogized him and paid great honor to his life. One particularly sweet moment has stayed with me since then.

One of the grandsons, Luke, took his turn at the podium. He’s a 28 year old, but probably owns more years than that in self-chosen hard life experience, and not exactly in the service of the Boy Scouts of America. He shared funny stories about Royce’s recent passion for bee-keeping. Royce only had one protective bee-keeper suit, but still wanted help from the kids with the beehives. “You’ll be fine,” he told them. “You’re more spry than I am.”

Then Luke closed his remarks with the following:

“I think that when Royce arrived at the pearly gates, God came out to meet him and said, ‘I’m so glad you’re here, Royce. I’ve been having some problems with the bees and I could use your help.’ And Royce said, ‘Glad to help. Let’s go take a look.’ In no time, everything was in working order. And now, if you notice that the rain smells and tastes a little sweeter, you’ll know that Royce mixed a little of his honey in it before it was sent down.”