A Gathering of Friends

Today I attended the memorial Mass for a lady who died on October 3 at the age of ninety-two. The church was quite full on this lovely Fall day. Her family members were seated in the front rows, sons and wives, their children, and their children's children. The lady was the great-grandmother of children ranging in age from a few months to their early teens. Behind them were the lady's many relations and friends, some of whom had come great distances to be there.

I was honored to have been invited to deliver the eulogy after the service. It was well received, for in preparing the speech I had made sure to include a soupçon of humor. There's nothing like a light touch at sad events to soften the grief. The main body of the speech was devoted to a summary of the lady's life, which as can be imagined was quite eventful, as she had lived in many parts of the world, often in difficult periods in its history.

The lady had been much admired and respected in life; she had a generous if somewhat autocratic nature, and she had enjoyed reasonably good health until very recently. She passed away peacefully in her sleep.

Afterwards there was a luncheon at a restaurant for about a hundred and fifty people.

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It is pleasant at such events to meet friends whom we have not seen in many years. As luck would have it, several of the people who attended the memorial service had come for another reason: a reunion of the members of an informal club that they formed more than forty years ago to celebrate the Christmas season at each others' houses. The appearance here at the reception of this group of friends, some who came from far away, happened to have coincided with the lady's funeral, and as the visitors were also childhood friends of the children of the deceased, it was only proper that they should attend.

In the event, there was much exchanging of greetings and news among the gathering at the church and at the luncheon following, all of which infused what might otherwise have been a somber event with an air of congeniality.