Commemoration and celebration

We held the memorial service for my father on January 276th. It was, as it should be, a commemoration and celebration of a good life, well lived. More than thirty family members gathered from points as far distant as California and Florida. Mot were blood relatives. The service was after the manner of Friends (Quakers) It began with a period of silence - followed by speaking. Three of my father’s four children spoke. One did not. One granddaughter sang; father had enjoyed her singing. One of my sisters, the wit of the family recited a poem of the sort that my father often wrote.

We had two dinners, one on the day before the service, another the day afterwards. They were convivial and fun. On Sunday morning, a diminished group of us gathered for breakfast at the Hilton Garden Hotel before going our separate ways - to Washington DC, Florida, California, Singapore, Salt Lake City.

“Isn’t it sad that it has taken a death to bring us all together,” several remarked. “We should do this more often.” Probably we won’t.