The Stories That Keep Them Near

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens… He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1,11

Exactly twelve years ago today, June 3, 2014, we got the call that my dad had passed away. It wasn’t unexpected. He had been declining for some time. Even now, I can remember where we were, what we were doing, and how I felt.

What is it about birthdays, anniversaries, and death-days that makes them so important to us?

Part of it is culture and tradition. These are rhythms handed down to us. But it feels deeper than that.

The teacher from Ecclesiastes spent twelve chapters and more than 5,000 words wrestling with this mystery. I’ll attempt the short version.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, our Creator has placed both time and eternity in our hearts. We are eternal spiritual beings living within a temporary human experience. The seasons and rhythms of life are not accidental. They are part of what it means to be human.

“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die.” Ecclesiastes 3:1–2

Each death anniversary becomes an invitation to remember.

At Dad’s burial service, we asked a close family friend, a man who had experienced both the loss of a child and the death of his spouse, to share a few words. One thought still reverberates in my heart:

“Life, even when simple, is sometimes hard to understand. We live and love as hard as we can, all the while preparing for a parting of our ways.

But we honor those we love most by keeping them alive through conversation, telling stories even when they hurt in this first while.”

June is the month we remember not only my dad’s passing, but also my mom and father-in-law. Every June 3, 9, and 14, Sharon and I make it a point to honor our parents and retell stories.

Stories are memory’s campfire. 🔥 We gather around them, warm our hands, laugh at details we almost forgot, and keep the people we love close.

It also reminds us of something deeper: hope.

For followers of Jesus, Christ lives in us, and those who died in Christ are with Him. So how far away could our departed loved ones truly be?

Jesus confronted the Sadducees’ misunderstanding about death and eternity with these words:

“Have you not read what God said to you: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” – Matthew 22:31–32

Today, we’ll remember Dad through the retelling of favorite “Grambo” stories. We’ll laugh. We’ll miss him. And we’ll say a prayer for all of us still waiting to join them.

A prayer that imagines a grand reunion. A place at the table. A kingdom where every goodbye finally runs out of breath.

Run the Play: Embrace the people and seasons that shaped your story.

Finding Our Place in the Story

What memories, anniversaries, or seasons in your life invite you not only to look backward with gratitude, but forward with hope?