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Nice going mountaingal...I sent you a message with my aunt name
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Pure niceness! Loving your report
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This is really nice, mountaingal.Comment
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glad you're still checking in, peazie and black star. and i'm only about to start day three, yowza.
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Funeral
Funeral day dawned bright and hot. HOT mi seh! Santa Cruz hot
took my time getting dressed cuz i so did not want to leave my fan and ac, had them both going same time.
got to the church and just had to shake my head in admiration at the ladies in panty hose and the men in full suits
heat did not bother seem to bother them at all.
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inside the church was cool - a combination of fans and open doors and windows. i guess the thermal properties of the stone didn't hurt either.
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in my day, these used to be the remnants of stables.
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entrance to the vestry
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the altar, all modernized. they removed the elevated pulpit. there used to be an organ, but it get tief.
DSCN0158.jpgLast edited by mountaingal; 08-04-2014, 11:26 AM.Comment
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looking down from the church to the graveyard at the bottom of the hill. so hot and dry. note the tent over the site for the interment, and the vendors' van on the left, waiting to sell cold drinks.
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a word about my great-aunt (or grand-aunt, as we say in Jamaica). She was the youngest of 5 children, grand-daughter of an ex-slave (if i remember my family history correctly). She was considered the prettiest of the three girls. She was essentially spoiled by her mother, so she grew up confident and wilful, and loved to be the centre of attention. She was always ready for a good time, and well into her 70s, would wear her jeans and scorn home-cooked food for kfc. She had a lot of trials and tribulations, and endured a lot of susu about choosing to leave her husband and go "a road", but she never gave a crap. weeks before she died she was still fussing about getting her manicure.
we all miss her terribly, and her absence is being felt by the church (where she was the verger), and in the community.Comment
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The funeral service was simple and short. The priest kept things moving along quite crisply, declaring the outset that no "open tributes" would be allowed, you had to be already in the program to speak. He also sang the hymns at such an accelerated pace the poor choir and congregation had a hard time keeping up.
i quite liked that young priest, and daydreamed about him marrying my daughter
(except she still has her sights set on the Olympian Hansle Parchment). i don't have a still picture of the priest, but you can spot him in the videos i'll post in a bit.
The service started without musical accompaniment for the choir. The young organist was late due to being at a crusade until the wee hours. He snuck in mid-way through the service with his organ. Between him, the choir, and the altar girls and dem tamourine, we made do - in fact, all was well.
excuse the quality of the video. you can see my hopefully son-in-law priest administering communion.
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The recessional hymn was "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory". i never heard a recessional sang so lively, especially for a funeral. tell the truth, i was slightly shocked. But there was no lollygagging as the casket was wheeled out and into lifted into the hearse outside the church door before i even got out of my pew.
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driving from the church door to the cemetary. wish that was available back in 95 when i was pallbearer for my cousin. that walk down the hill with a heavy casket is an experience i never again want to have.Comment
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again with the lively music - this time from the hearse. wanted to catch a picture of my little cousin in the white dress dancing to the music but was too late with the camera.
we made our way to the grave, where the priests were assembled. how did they get there so fast?Comment
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It Is Well With My Soul
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At the grave the ceremony is short. The priests remind us that "in the midst of life we are in death", and pronounces ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Some earth is tossed onto the casket, a couple of wreaths placed, and the hymns begin to provide a soundtrack for the sealing of the tomb. The children watch avidly.
Last edited by mountaingal; 08-04-2014, 03:25 PM.Comment
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things get a little anthropological. burial rites in a rural community. the sealing of the tomb is a specific task, performed by specific people in the community. the old man in the suit and fedora (i call him the interment director), is in charge, directing a group that includes younger men, so the knowledge is being passed from one generation to the other. they lay a frame over the grave, bring cement in an assembly line.
In under 10 minutes they are done.
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