The Funeral

Today I went to David's funeral. It was scheduled to start at 11am. I got there a few minutes beforehand and there was a long line of cars stretching through the front gate of Eden Cemetery and running all the way up the hill. The cars were at a standstill, a total traffic jam, so I thought, "I'll never make it if I don't find somewhere else to park". Just then I saw a man crossing Rinaldi Street after exiting the San Fernando Mission Cemetery parking lot across the street. "Great idea", I thought. I made a u-turn, parked there too, and crossed Rinaldi to walk up the road to the main mortuary chapel a few hundred yards distant.

Just as I arrived, several old friends were walking up the mortuary steps almost in unison. We all converged as if we had timed it that way. I had not seen these four guys in quite a while, so we stood out front for ten minutes, talking about David mostly, but catching up too. Other folks were still filing in. The service had not yet begun.

When we did go inside, we heard jazz fusion music in the lobby. It turned out that David, a music fanatic like all of us (and like you who are reading this) had chosen a Chick Corea album to set a lively mood. There was a large easel with a couple dozen family photos of of David at various times of his life, arranged on posterboard. Looking at the pics, my friends and I had a couple of low key laughs, recalling from certain time periods the way he was, or the things he said. A man walked past in very casual clothes. My friends were all wearing either suits or all black new clothing. They chuckled and figured they were overdressed. "This is a service for David F", one of my buddies said. "That guy was dressed correctly". This was true, as our pal David was entirely casual and non-pretentious.

I felt a little better after that, because I had arrived on a quick work break from Pearl's, dressed in black jeans and a grey/blue pendleton......

The chapel was almost full when we entered, so the five of us filed into the pew one row from the back. I would guess there were about 60 or 70 people there. David had different groups of friends, many from work (though he'd get pissed at me if I referred to everyone at Castaic Brick as his friend, or even if I referred to all the people he knew in that way). I have mentioned that David was a highly sensitive, highly strung person who had far more than his share of discord in life. Over the course of ten years of Saturday night CSUN walks, he complained to me about a lot of people. I was his sounding board and it wasn't an easy job. And yet I would imagine a lot of those folks showed up today for his funeral, so perhaps his friendship transcended any difficulties, at least in their hearts and minds, and that's because, at heart, he was a really good guy.

The service was about 35 or 40 minutes long. The Rabbi said a prayer then recited the 23rd Psalm in Hebrew. Then he introduced the speakers, one at a time. Two of David's closest friends spoke first, guys he had known since childhood. I knew David since 1978, and though he was at our house on a daily and weekly basis all through the 1980s, and though we had our ten years of CSUN walks, I cannot say I knew him as well as these men did. His two sisters spoke after that, both of them older than he. That is one thing we had in common, we both had two older sisters. His told "little brother" stories and remembered him throughout his life. It goes without saying that all of the speakers had to pause for tears.

Finally, the Rabbi returned to give his own eulogy and a philosophical examination of this life that we all must exit at some point. This is a standard at funerals. I have been to enough of them in the last 15 years to know (and I am hoping there won't be anymore for a good long while).

At this point, the service was over. The Rabbi instructed everyone to return to their vehicles to make the drive uphill for the interment. I considered the earlier traffic jam (which had been for another service), and I saw that the cemetery road was still fully lined with cars, and I said to my friends as we exited that I would have to head back to Pearl's. Some of them know the nature of my job and the attention it requires.

I got back to Reseda at 12:20 pm, earlier than I'd expected, and I've just been hanging out with Pearl and chilling at home on my evening break, doing a little reading. I didn't go on a walk tonight because it was fruh-HEE-zing outside (meaning below 60 degrees). Cold literally gets into my bones, makes me feel frail and I can't stand it. But then, I am a Certified Cold Wimp, just not built for inclement weather or temps below 70 degrees, sorry bout dat.

I can do anywhere from 85 to 115, though, if anyone is hiring. Extra hot is not a problem. ////

I am reading a book called "Pulse" by Michael Harvey. It is a mystery crime story, recommended by Stephen King (who I trust totally after the Tremblay trilogy), and so far I am turning pages, though I'm not as superglued as I was with the Tremblay. Still good stuff though, the Harvey.

Soon to begin KK Downing's Judas Priest tell-all, arriving any day now from the Library.

See you in the morning.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)