The Funeral

I recently attended the funeral of a dear lady that had worked for me in the After School Program that I was the asst.coordinator for. She was only 56...fought a three year battle with colon cancer and unfortunately lost. This was the first African American funeral that I have ever been to.

Let me begin by saying that is is a good thing that I had taken the whole day off from work...after three hours, I was sitting on the pew wondering if I needed to perhaps get someone to cover my next day as well.

It was a very spiritual and moving service. It was also the most fascinating event that I have ever been to. It began with several very lengthy selections from the choir...all swaying to the beat and clapping to keep time.There were four ministers who spoke (at great length as well). Then we moved on to a couple of solo's. After a prayer was sent up in the family's behalf, a female evangelist took the microphone. She was before the five other people that were listed in the program scheduled to speak.

By this point, I stopped looking at my program...because these people were flying this train to Heaven by the seat of their pants. When the minister began his eulogy...twenty minutes in I realized that this was going to be a full out sermon (and it was).

The funeral started at 1:00. I got home at 4:00. And when I left, the entire cortege was preparing to go to the grave site to (in the word's of the minister) " Continue the service".

The funeral directors all wore tux, with tails and white gloves. They stood by the front of the church the entire service without so much as moving a muscle. I heard more "AMEN" "YES, JESUS"..."GLORY BE TO GOD" than I think I have heard in my entire life....and I grew up in the church.

It seems to me that this group in fact did not WANT this service to end...and peacefully spent an entire afternoon in the company of each other, the bereaved family, and their Lord.

Being a Caucasian...I have only experienced funerals of my relatives or other church members. When we send them on, it with the briefest of services, and before the hour is out we are all back in our own cars headed back to our own life.

It was a cultural eye opener for me...and a marvelous send off for this wonderful woman. How can I have lived 48 years and never attended one of these affairs? I have many African American friends...they are just all still alive.

After the grave side service... they were all coming back to the church for "The Repast". They were probably still at the church while I was cleaning up my dinner dishes.

I was impressed beyond words at the incredible amount of time and devotion that went into saying goodbye to their loved one. I left the church a little numbed (and not just my backside that I had been sitting on for three hours).

Ms. Rosa had herself a humdinger of a send off and one that I felt privileged to be able to witness. God bless Rosa and her son left behind. I am confident that her congregation will take him under their wing...and he will be okay.

Till next time...COTTON