Views to a Kill

Ok, I have milled this over for the past week now. I had attended the funeral services for my grandmother, and had noticed afew things that occupied my head while standing around vauge of the proceedings.

First of all, I speak no spanish. The entire proceedings were spokent entirely in spanish. Not that I don't think she didn't mind, but there are several family members from east Texas that do not speak spanish. I bring this up cause I spent the time observing the rituals of the Church. I was surprised how religion is rooted in multiple chants and songs of inspiration. I also notice how Funeral Homes do not research the people they ulogize. Without going into angering details, they accused family members of not caring for my grandmother. That was a horribly wrong assumption. They also became angry with members of the family in attendance for not speaking the rosary. I hate to break it to the monotonous old coot that did the service, but not everyone in the family is Christian. Several family members converted to other faiths so their silence was due to their religion of choice. Shit, my cousin Rick is Jehova's Witness. His faith tells him not to step foot in any church. He attended.

I had noticed that Priests have one interesting job. They are the centers of attention, which means they have cool equipment they wear to be better heard. I remember as a young boy going to church and trying my short-attention spanned best to pay attention to the monotone voice of the Priest. This one had a lavalier mic attatched to his apparel that made his voice, a naturally soft one, heard Magnavox clear. I noticed that he gets wine and wafers to consume durring his sermon, while there is a No Food Allowed in church sign at the front door. Im sure after the 2nd service of the day he is more than alittle buzzed.
Oh, and yes I realize what the symbolism of the wine and bread are.

I was honored to be the pall bearer for my grandmother. I could be wrong, but I think that normally there are 6 pall bearers. My grandmother had 8. I don't think she minded, but probaby would have told one of us to go sit down, just out of her not wanting such a fuss over her. The car ride from the funeral home to the church was a quiet one. Come to think of it, from the church to the cemetary was quiet too. We all drove in the same car so we could arrive together wherever we went. The only time someone spoke up was cause of curiosity that couldn't wait for a better time to bring up. Imediately after the subject was finished, silence commenced again. After the service is when alot of what was said in the car ride could have been said. Everyone in the car was silent in respect for my grandmother. Sadly to say, my cousin that brought up the question that cut the silence has no tact.

If one thing was learned over the past week, its that family is a binding tie. You may not think about it, but in the face of a tragedy, these people are there affected the same as you. Levels of greif varied from person to person, and it was the will of those stronger that helped those that needed comfort. My grandmother was the central figure in the family. She brought everyone back home, and kept things so serene. We all now have to act as she did to make the conscious effort to bring us all together. She may be gone, but her family is still here.

Back to normal rants later.