When Anna, a fellow venue owner in a nearby town, reached out to us to film her fathers funeral/celebration of life, I was reluctant. We hadn't covered a funeral in nearly 10 years. Could we do them justice? We spend the majority of our time filming weddings, the happiest days of ones' life. I only hesitated for a brief moment though, as our job is to record the special, important moments, and we are just fortunate that the majority of those times, are joyous.
With nearly 300 in attendance, and approximately 30 eulogies in over 3 hours, it was easy to see Rob Toal was loved. It was also easy to see, even as a stranger amongst the most intimate of times, the impact he made not only on his family and friends, but on the community surrounding him.
We live in a small, rural area of Southwest Georgia - and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who didn't know of Rob Toal. We heard countless stories of the good deeds he did for others, for his students, his employees, and most importantly, his family. When Anna described him as "larger than life", he showed out in the memories shared about him.
When I reached out to Anna about a month before the passing of her father, just to introduce ourselves, this isn't the way I had planned us to meet. However, the glimpse we got into the wonderful, undying love she has with her family will resonate with us for a long time. We may not have known Rob Toal while he was alive, but we sure see the lives he left behind.
RIP Rob Toal