The funeral was held Friday, March 13, 1998 at Beth's church in 
Minnesota. Before it started, Kate, Kristin, and each member of the 
Hanson family wrote a letter and put it in the coffin. Lindsay said 
something at her funeral, and so did Taylor. Here's how it Lindsay's 
speech went:
	"I was Beth's best friend. I've known her for, well, since I 
was born. We used to live next door to each other and we walked home 
from school together since kindergarten. I remember I once was sopost 
to be taking a nap, but instead I snuck over to Beth's house. I 
remember she always had these crazy ideas, like once she hid Megan's 
blankie in her brother's closet. Another time at camp, she was laying 
on the bottom bunk, kicking the top, and the top bunk fell off. (A.N. 
Literally, the whole top bunk flew off!) I was reading a book and I 
saw a couple poems that reminded me of Beth. The first one is called, 
"The Girl Next Door" and it goes like this: (A.N. This is by Amanda 
Dykstra. Both poems can be found in Chicken Soup for the Teenage 
Soul.)
	Do you remember
	Many years ago
	When we were young,
	How we used to play together
	Every day?

	It seems like yesterday-
	The childhood world
	Of clowns and cotton candy
	And summer days
	That never seemed to end
	When we played hide 'n' seek
	From four o'clock till dusk
	Then sat outside on someone's stoop
	And listened to the crickets
	And slapped away mosquitoes
	And talked about our dreams
	And what we'd do when we grew up
	Until our mothers called us in.

	And do you remember
	That one winter when it snowed
	For days and days on end
	And we tried to build an igloo
	Like the Eskimos?
	Or when we made a game
	Of raking leaves
	All up and down the street
	Until we'd made the biggest pile
	The world had ever seen
	And then we jumped in it?
	Or how about the time
	We gathered honeysuckle
	From your yard
	And sold it to the neighbors?
	And the grand day when finally
	The training wheels came off our bikes
	And we were free
	To explore the whole world
	In an afternoon
	So long as we stayed
	On our own street.

	But those days passed by furtively
	And we grew up, as children do
	Until we reached a day when we
	Assumed that we were too grown-up
	To play amid the trees on summer nights . . . 
	and when I see you now
	You've changed in ways I can't explain
	You're like a rose that blooms before its time
	And falls a victim to
	The February frost.

	Because the waist on your jeans is getting tight
	Symbolic of a youth that's not your own
	And your face is pale and green-
	You don't look so well.
	I see you scowling at the street
	From the window in your room,
	It's so rare to see you smiling anymore.
	And when a car pulls up outside
	You run downstairs and out the door
	With a suitcase in each hand
	And the car speeds away
	And the girl next door is gone.

	And I long once more
	For the summer days
	When I stood on your porch
	And banged on your door
	And bade you come outside to greet
	the afternoon's adventures.
	
	Won't you come out to play, once more?
	For we are still so young . . ."
There was a pause. "The other poems reminded me of how she died." Then 
there was another pause before Lindsay started reading the poem 
"Somebody Should Have Taught Him" (A.N. This is retold by Jane 
Watkins):
	I went to a birthday party
	but remembered what you said.
	You told me not to drink at all,
	so I had Sprite instead.
	I felt proud of myself,
	the way you said I would,
	that I didn't choose to drink and drive,
	though some friends said I should. 
	I knew I made a healthy choice and
	your advice to me was right
	as the party finally ended
	and the kids drove out of sight.
	I got into my own car,
	sure to get home in one piece,
	never knowing what was coming,
	something I expected least.
	Now I'm lying on the pavement.
	I can hear the policeman say,
	"The kid that caused this wreck was drunk."
	His voice seems far away.
	My own blood is all around me, 
	as I try hard not to cry.
	I can hear the paramedic say,
	"This girl is going to die."
	I'm sure the guy had no idea,
	while he was flying high,
	because he chose to drink and drive
	that I would have to die.
	So why do people do it,
	knowing that it ruins lives?
	But now the pain is cutting me
	like a hundred stabbing knives.
	Tell my sister not to be afraid,
	tell Daddy to be brave,
	and when I go to heaven to
	put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave.
	Someone should have taught him
	that it's wrong to drink and drive.
	Maybe if his mom and dad had,
	I'd still be alive.
	My breath is getting shorter,
	I'm getting really scared.	
	These are my final moments,
	and I'm so unprepared.
	I wish that you could hold me, Mom,
	as I lie here and die.
	I wish that I could say
	I love you and good-bye."
There was another pause. "I wish that I could have seen her once more 
when she was alive, and I wish that I could have been with her when 
she died. But since I couldn't, I'm glad someone who loved Beth was." 
By the end of Lindsay's speech, her face was covered with tears. She 
went back to her seat and Taylor stepped up to the podium. "I'll never 
forget the first time I met Beth. She spit her water all over me, so I 
tripped her. That night, she and the rest of Northern Lights snuck 
into our hotel room and put food coloring in our toothpaste and blue 
stuff in the shower nosel. The next day, I had to go on Regis and 
Kathy Lee with blue hair, and Zac with green teeth. I was listening to 
the radio and I heard a song, it went like this: (A.N. I'd like to 
give credit to whoever wrote this, but I don't know who.) 'I think of 
you, remembering our time, the laughter, the love, we never planned to 
say good-bye, and sometimes I cry. But yesterday's gone, and I know it 
won't be long, until we meet again. We share this hope, that we still 
have a home, where we will meet again, until then, I will see you in 
the morning, just inside heaven's door, I will see you in the 
sunlight, over on a brighter shore, no more tears, no more pain, in a 
far better place, I will miss you 'til then, but I promise you again, 
I will see you in the morning.' My favorite saying used to be 
'Everything Changes', but now I hate that saying because I realized 
there's some things you just can't change, or want to change. I was 
the last person to see her before she died, and her last word was 
'Good-bye' and I refused that she was going to die and did something I 
regret. I never said good-bye." Taylor tried so hard not to cry during 
his speech, but he couldn't help but let a few tears fall. He returned 
to his seat. Then Pastor Mike (Lindsay's dad) came up to the podium 
and started talking, "I dedicated Bethany when she was just a baby, 
and I thought I would do her wedding before her funeral. I hoped I 
wouldn't be alive for her funeral. When she lived in Minnesota, I was
basically her second father, and I thought of her as a daughter. I 
always called her 'Befy Degree DeGraw' instead of her real name. You 
know God doesn't will everything that happens I life, but in 
everything that happens, He wills something. If I could've taken 
Beth's place, I would've, but God chose Beth for a reason. I don't 
exactly know the reason, but it must have been a good one." After the 
funeral, they all stood on the front steps of the church and said the 
Lord's prayer as her coffin was loaded into the hearse. On the way to 
the cemetery, the Hanson car was quiet. Everyone just stared out the 
window. "Taylor, are you ok?" Zac asked softly. There was no reply. 
Diana looked into the back and shook her head in a "Leave him be" 
manner. As Beth's coffin was being lowered into the grave, one last 
tear rolled down Taylor's face, as he kissed a single red rose, 
dropped it into the grave onto the coffin and whispered, "Good-bye."

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