Janet Reno runs a great funeral. How do I know this? Because Former US Attorney General Reno was a college chum of my father’s cousin.  When my father’s cousin’s husband passed away twenty-five years ago, I did what any good Southern girl would do.  I made a broccoli and cheese casserole and took it over to the house. I was greeted by a very tall woman wielding a very large wooden spoon barring the kitchen door.  She smiled (sort of) and said in a very firm voice,  “Don’t bring that dish into this kitchen until you label it with your first and last name and log it into the food book.” I didn’t realize I’d just been barked at by the then Attorney General for the State of Florida, a woman who two years later would become US Attorney General.  In addition to managing the kitchen for what turned out to be a huge Southern funeral, Janet, as my family referred to her, also scripted the service and delivered the eulogy. Politics were irrelevant.  She showed up on a day when my cousin needed her. I’ve been down the death road many times.  I lost my younger brother in childhood, my mother died when I was in my twenties, and both of my husband’s parents have passed. Here’s the thing I’ve learned:  funerals matter. When a friend helps you through a funeral, you never forget it.  Since it’s unlikely that Janet Reno will be available, here are five things you can do when a friend loses a love one: 1. Show up When my husband’s father died, one of his friends drove 4 hours (each way) to attend the funeral.  It was a million years http://www.mcleodandmore.com/2014/03/31/what-to-do-when-your-friends-father-dies-and-other-life-crises/