'Keep Your Fork'

This is from an Ann Landers column - Ann commented that it has been attributed to Roger William Thomas.  Mom liked to refer to this 'story':

 

A woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live.

 

She asked her pastor to come to her home to discuss her final wishes.  She told him which songs she wanted sung at her funeral, what Scriptures to read and which outfit she wanted to be buried in.

 

Then she said, "One more thing.  I want to be buried with a fork in my hand."

 

The pastor was surprised.  The woman explained., "In all my years of attending church socials and potluck dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.''

 

"It was my favorite time, because I knew something better was coming, like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple piece - something wonderful.  So, I want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and wonder, 'What's with the fork?'"

 

"Then, I want you to tell them, 'Keep your fork, because the best is yet to come.'"

 

The pastor's eyes welled up with tears of joy as he bid the woman goodby.  He realized she had a better grasp of heaven than he did, and knew something better was coming.

 

At the funeral, when people asked him why she was holding a fork, the pastor told them of the conversation he had with the woman before she died.  He said he could not stop thinking about the fork, and knew they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either.

 

He was right.

 

Keep your fork.  The best is yet to come.