I went to a friend's mother's funeral today. It was held at the St. Joseph's Cathedral this afternoon. I've never been to a Roman Catholic funeral so it was rather interesting.
The last time I went to a funeral was my aunt's about 6 years ago. Most of my life, she was living in Australia so I didn't know her very well. But I remember her as a fun person who was petite and practised yoga almost religiously. The ironic thing is that I only got interested in yoga after she passed away. I remember the morning of her funeral. I had to drive to work first then leave some hours early from work to go to church. That morning, the radio was playing Disney's Tarzan's 'You'll be in my Heart' by Phil Collins. To this very day, I cannot sing that song without choking.
Among all the funerals I've been to, the one I remember most is the one for my fraternity brother in Michigan. Her liver had collapsed one morning and within hours, she had passed away. A lot of us from the fraternity went to the funeral. I've been brought up to believe that we wear dark colours to funerals. But a lady (an aunt) walked into the church that morning wearing a suit of rainbow hues. She was an impressive woman. When we asked her later why she wore that suit, she said that her niece would have loved it. She said that she wanted to be able to celebrate her niece's life and not mourn her death.
I suppose that's all we can do. We have to be able to celebrate the lives and not tie the souls of the dead to this earth by mourning their deaths.
Maybe the Irish did have a good idea going after all.
The last time I went to a funeral was my aunt's about 6 years ago. Most of my life, she was living in Australia so I didn't know her very well. But I remember her as a fun person who was petite and practised yoga almost religiously. The ironic thing is that I only got interested in yoga after she passed away. I remember the morning of her funeral. I had to drive to work first then leave some hours early from work to go to church. That morning, the radio was playing Disney's Tarzan's 'You'll be in my Heart' by Phil Collins. To this very day, I cannot sing that song without choking.
Among all the funerals I've been to, the one I remember most is the one for my fraternity brother in Michigan. Her liver had collapsed one morning and within hours, she had passed away. A lot of us from the fraternity went to the funeral. I've been brought up to believe that we wear dark colours to funerals. But a lady (an aunt) walked into the church that morning wearing a suit of rainbow hues. She was an impressive woman. When we asked her later why she wore that suit, she said that her niece would have loved it. She said that she wanted to be able to celebrate her niece's life and not mourn her death.
I suppose that's all we can do. We have to be able to celebrate the lives and not tie the souls of the dead to this earth by mourning their deaths.
Maybe the Irish did have a good idea going after all.
5:19 pm |
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