The counting of the Omer

"You shall count for yourselves -- from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving -- seven Shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count, fifty days..". -Leviticus 23:15-16
"You shall count for yourselves seven weeks, from when the sickle is first put to the standing crop shall you begin counting seven weeks. Then you will observe the Festival of Shavu'ot for the L-RD, your G-d "-Deuteronomy 16:9-10

Every night, from the second night of Passover to the night before Shavuot, we recite a blessing and state the count of the omer in both weeks and days. For example, on the 17th day, you would say "Today is seventeen days, which is two weeks and three days of the Omer."

A number of years ago, my friend's father, a Torah scholar and all around mentsch, was niftar. I remember feeling awkward at the shiva, searching for the right words to say, knowing how close she was with her father. My friend came from a large family, and she had five brothers. I began by telling her that my husband's father was also niftar during the time of sefira. I told her, "You don't know how careful my husband is with counting sefira. On the yarzheit day, my husband realizes he will have to daven maariv before the amud and he would be so embarrassed if he had to step aside and let someone else say the beracha of sefira, because he had lost count and couldn't say the beracha anymore. I told her, "Your father is mezakeh all your brothers to be makpid (be stringent) in the beracha of sefira."

"You have consoled me", she said.