Heartbreaking: Meghan McCain Breaks Down While Standing over Father's Casket
If you’ve ever stood next to a casket bearing the body of a loved one, you know how challenging that moment can be. Part of you understands that the person has already passed from this world to the next.
But acceptance isn’t as easy as mere mental assent. And when you see that coffin, the reality of death often comes crashing down like a load of bricks.
I know it happened for me when I went to my father’s viewing.
Judging by video footage captured during Sen. John McCain’s funeral at the Arizona State Capitol, it also happened for his family.
On Aug. 25, McCain passed away after a long battle with brain cancer a mere day after announcing he was discontinuing treatment. Local and national political luminaries were quick to praise his person and legacy.
“He fought like hell for the causes he believed in,” said Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Reuters reported. “But along the way, he did it with humor and humanity and without compromising the principles he held so dear.”
“The fact that people say good things about (McCain) now, I appreciate, but the family appreciates it,” longtime friend Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News. “He loved America … (and was) willing to die for it.”
Perhaps that explains the outpouring of support after McCain’s death. People began to line up at the Arizona State Capitol Museum to view his casket on Aug. 29, hours before the facility opened to the public.
Members of the senator’s family were the first to pay their respects, and it was heartbreaking to behold. Wife Cindy McCain’s chin began to tremble as she approached the flag-draped casket.
She patted it for a moment, obviously struggling to maintain her composure. She softly laid her cheek on the coffin before stepping away.
Meghan McCain openly wept as she approached the casket, her face contorted by sobs. She wrung her hands through her tears and mouthed a final farewell to her father before walking away while still crying.
McCain’s daughter made no secret of her admiration for her dad. She posted a touching tribute to him on Twitter the evening of his death.
“I was with my father at his end, as he was with me at my beginning,” she wrote. “In the thirty-three years we shared together, he raised me, taught me, corrected me, comforted me, encouraged me, and supported me in all things.”
“But in this loss, and in this sorrow, I take comfort in this: … Today the warrior enters his true and eternal life, greeted by those who have gone before him, rising to meet the Author of All Things.”
I love you forever – my beloved father @SenJohnMcCain pic.twitter.com/Y50tVQvlVe
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) August 26, 2018
His wife Cindy shared a shorter but no less heartfelt tribute. She took to Twitter minutes after her husband’s passing.
“I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years,” she said. “He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the place he loved best.”
We know that death will one day be swallowed up in victory, but until then we mourn. May God comfort the McCain family in their sorrow.
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