a parade!

it is hard to believe that today actually happened.

the funeral was today. we all hustled and bustled and primped and prepped to bury one of the most significant men in all of our lives. it was surreal. still is.

i have sung for probably fifty funerals in my young life. but there was something different about today. today was much harder. as i waited alone for my family to arrive with the casket, i looked throughout the little, hot church on this non-descript friday morning, and i was overwhelmed. i have never seen so many people gather in the house of God to mourn a death. the pews were hardly capable of fitting those who came to profess their hope in the resurrection. (i guess it's a good thing that not everyone who came to the viewings came to the church--there were at least 300 just on the first night). i was pretty much together until the very end when they finally wheeled out the body from the church. the rest is history. maybe literally.

outisde the church, the firetrucks were waiting. the pallbearers lifted the flag-clad casket into the back of the oldschool fire truck that poppy used to drive when he was chief back in 1958. three limos held poppy's eight children and thirteen grandchildren, and we followed the big, red trucks adorned with hundreds of roses and flags. we thought we were just going to the cemetery, but we were wrong. what happened, in effect, was a parade of sorts throughout the entire town. traffic was blocked everywhere by policemen, and everyone was coming out of their houses to see what was happening. must have been someone important, they thought.

when we pulled up in front of the fire department, one of the most astonishing things met our eyes: two, enormous fire trucks from neighboring towns flanked either side of the road with their ladders stretched into the sky, forming an arch. in the center of the arch hung a massive American flag, waving in the breeze. the casket was driven underneath the flag arch, and the sound of bells and sirens and whistles of all kinds filled our ears as the firemen saluted our grandfather in honor. in his memory, they placed a chair in front of the VFD with his uniform and his empty boots in the place where he once sat. "in memory of big johnny," they said.

the grand procession continued all the way to the cemetery, passing by edie's, the restaurant that poppy and nana started many, many years ago. the customers came out to look. at the gravesite, we were all given roses of different colors. it was raining, and our heels sunk into the muddy earth. the marines played taps, saluted him, and folded the flag from the casket into one of those neat triangles. there were flowers everywhere. each of us said our final goodbyes, placing a rose in front of the casket. my little cousin olivia wanted to know why we couldn't see the bed go into the ground.

afterwards, we had a reception with amazing food at the fire hall. so many people came that there wasn't enough food to feed everyone. it met more relatives than i knew i had. we were still all expecting Poppy to walk through the door.

i wonder what he was thinking up there as he watched the police shut down Broad street for his procession. on earth, he probably would have said "damn right, i deserve it!"....i'm not so sure that would fly in heaven.