"I have known great things and wonderful persons, and I have known homage."
– Lillie Langtry
We said goodbye to Bev today in a packed funeral home chapel, in a sea of black and red. Bev loved the colour red. When she knew the end was drawing near and was ready to speak about the rituals of death, she asked to be cremated in her red dress. So as homage to her, many of us added a touch of red to the mourning clothes we donned for our last goodbye.
The service was faith based, Catholic, though there was no mass. The priest spoke of life, death and resurrection. He did not seem to know her and it was generic in its tone. When the formal rites of the service were over, the eulogies began. There were seven. Two of her three children spoke as did her uncle, brother-in-law and three friends. All spoke of her kindness, abundant love and zest for life.
It has been a long day. A sad day. A day of grief and a day of celebration. It is now time to let the healing begin.
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