Six Shooters & Cowboy Hats

“They came with six shooters on their hips and nobody took their cowboy hat off for the entire funeral.” – Duaine Rasmussen

Six Shooters & Cowboy Hats

“It’s a real bummer when almost everyone you know is dying.”  Duaine said to me as we sat down to review a real estate purchase contract.  His words caught me by surprise.

“I’ve been to two funerals lately.”  Duaine continued.  “They’ve both been most interesting and so different!  The first one I went to allowed me to catch up with life long friends.  The second one took me to Wyoming where I saw things I thought were long past.”

As Duaine spun his tales to me I was completely engaged.  I loved his stories and how he animated them.  They had greatly impacted his life.  Now they were impacting mine as well.

Most of us can’t see the true impact that other people have on us until we’re forced to accept some sort of finality.  For some reason the ending we call death allows us to compress time and gather our experiences of a lifetime into a packaged memory, a memory with meaning far beyond what we can comprehend while we’re still engaged in the experience.  This is what I was watching Duaine do right before my eyes.  It was a beautiful process to behold, full of discovery, joy and fulfillment.

Discovery.  “His sons walked into the funeral.  They came with six shooters on their hips and nobody took their cowboy hat off for the entire funeral.  I couldn’t believe it!  But, it was the personification of the way he lived his life.  He loved ranching, hunting and being in the outdoors!  It was the most fitting tribute they could have offered him.”  Duaine told me as he described the last funeral he attended in Wyoming.  I could see the joy in his eyes as his words brought his friend right back to life.

Joy.  “I remember those two guys and how they loved to golf.  In fact, the most unbelievable thing happened to them one time on the golf course.  They were in the middle of a round of golf one Sunday when one of them turned to the other and said, ‘I think we should start to attend church.’  At that very moment they both packed up their clubs, in the middle of their round, and left the golf course!  They went home, changed their clothes and went to church.  I didn’t think it would stick, but it did!”  Duaine expressed to me with a laugh on his face and a fulfilled glow all around him.

Fulfillment.  “When it’s my time to go I hope I can go out like these two did.  You know, I’ve lived a great life and I’m ready to go as soon as my number is up.  I don’t know when that will be, but I have great kids and wonderful grandkids.”  Duaine expressed in a soft and loving way.

You and I can share Duaine’s loving way and experience as our precious ones finish their well-lived lives.  Their deaths can be a time of discovery, joy and fulfillment for us as we follow Duaine’s pattern of recollection.

Duaine’s tales and feelings memorized me.  And, as we turned back to our business, the stated reason for my visit, I couldn’t help but realize that the true reason for our meeting was so I could hear about six shooters, cowboy hats and lives celebrated.