Recently I attended a customary wake before a funeral.
It took place in Woodbridge where a majority of the populous sports hunting camo like its all the new rage in fashion. Wal-Marts and Chick-Fil-A's pop up every few miles thanks to city sprawl, and Southern drawls are heard in the background of casual conversation. Still somewhat Northern VA...but not really.
The setting was a proper funeral home, quiet and quaint in its little corner of a fresh asphalt parking lot.
Cars and SUVs all lined next to eachother, each one sporting a different version of the Guam seal on the back or side window.
It was a typical Chamorro service despite the geographical location. Rosary responses and religious Chamorro songs of old dripped from lips like honey, and I thought how proud my Grandma would be.
Afterwards, when the parade of amen-ing and handshaking had finished and the "gold plan" meal was being served...I met her.
A tall blonde standing at the entrance to the reception office, quietly eating her chalikilis (csp?) out of a garden-variety Dixie cup with a fancy floral design to boot.
True to form I made my greeting and struck up casual conversation. I wanted to know...even study.
She had been working there for two years and the subtle morbid undertone of the atmosphere never really fazed her. After all, its just business.
We found common ground in our age and a few interests. She never watched Six Feet Under when it ran its course through premium channel purgatory. I cracked a joke asking how business has been....steady, unless of course people stop dying. (That's right, laugh out loud bitches)
Her humor was anything but dry and she was more than happy to answer my questions...even the stupid boyish ones.
I just had to ask if she could squeeze in a chance to give me an official unofficial tour of the dead people room...no, I wasn't hitting on a chick at a funeral home...maybe a little. She got married last year but made it point to tell me it was on the rocks....insert sexy pick-up line here....(e.g. "Marriage is just a word.", "You gave it a shot at living up to a socially accepted standard...oh well, let me buy you a drink." hehe.)
She declined saying that the mortician was hard at work...pretty cool.After this and that, and all the "he said, she said" she said her piece.
She explained how amazed she was with the amount of mourners and supporters that have shown up.
That these kind of numbers are almost never seen nowadays. Sad.She said the day before, five people showed up to a wake. The day before that, none. Not even the person who set it up or paid the bills showed up...lawyer, friends, family...no one.
The night finished and we parted ways. I have to admit she left her mark. Honest in her opinion and truthful in her words...she got me thinking a bit.
This life is, or at least should be, more than just a read through.
You're alive....SMILE.
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