Recently, a friend’s mother died at the tender age of 51, after a two-year struggle with cancer. Her 21-year-old daughter, Sarah, sobbed as she told me the story of her ordeal. My heart broke for her. She is so young to lose her mother. I asked her when the funeral was planned so that I could attend. She explained to me that her mother’s ashes would be spread sometime later this year, but there would be no funeral or memorial service.

Ironically, she told me her sad story on the same day that I learned my mother had passed away. Ten days later, my family reconvened in Fort... Read More