funeral

We attended a funeral this morning for our friend, Vince DeAgostino, and I thought how very appropriate the ceremony was. Although we have not been friends for a great length of time, I think I knew him and Olympia well enough to make an evaluation of the funeral. The Mass was beautiful, and it was ornamented with all the traditions and rituals of a perfect Catholic observance. These are the protocols with which he would be comfortable, that he has known and appreciated all his life. He has been sent on his way ("here he comes," said the priest, notifying Heaven and God of his transit) sent by those who deeply respected and who loved him, and there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he has arrived at precisely the destination he hoped to reach.

Not all funerals, to my mind, are appropriate to the deceased, not because they have been evil or undeserving people, but because such funerals often represent an image of the cosmology definitely not attuned to the departed. So, funerals mostly represent an ethic particular to those who are left behind, and not those who are undertaking their last great adventure. I believe that this morning's ceremony was perfect. Arrivederci, to a very good man.