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CREMATION & VISITATION

Last week a friend to Ella & I died of Cancer. There was a notice in the paper of his passing, The obituary directed us to the funeral home for visitations to be held on Saturday between 2-4 and 7-9. We suspected that cremation had taken place with no internment notice.

We made our way over to the prestigious funeral home in the city; shown our way to a room to say our regrets to the immediate family; No church funeral service for the clergy to speak of the deceased passing.;No eulogy by a friend or family member to acknowledge the beauty of a life well lived; no coffin; no pallbearers; No funeral procession to the cemetery to burry the dead.

I found the visit was very impersonal and bereft of any warmth. No tears or visible emotions were evident in the room; No refreshments were provided for the guests to entice them to stay-a-while to remember the life of the deceased. He was a fine man who raised a family and was a credit to his community that I thought should have been acknowledged by someone.

There was a simple urn on the mantlepiece to store the ashes of our departed advisor.

We stayed for a few minutes; said our adieus and made our way home to Dorchester.

In the book of Ecclesiastics the bible reminds us: "To Everything There is a Season. " A time to be born, a time to weep and time to laugh. And a time to mourn."

No fuss, no muss; it is what it is. No celebration of life; what was was. No time to mourn; simply move on.

Len Lesser is a resident of Dorchester.

Len Lesser