Margarita

I dread funerals. I avoid them if I can. Yesterday I attended the funeral mass and internment of my suegra (mother-in-law). 

Funerals, of course, are for the living, part of the grieving process, a chance to support and comfort loved ones, an opportunity to reflect on the preciousness of life. I expected/wanted Mozart's Requiem to come booming from the church ceiling like a clarion call acknowledging Margarita's passing. 

Grief is at the same time shared and compounded. Each comforting embrace brings a fresh trail of tears. Every phrase of solace a reminder of unrecoverable loss. 

While death is natural, it is often anthropomorphized, an enemy to be thwarted until the very end, and then overcome, magically. The verdict is suddenly set aside, an eternal reprieve granted. How ingenuous.

I will miss Margarita and will toast her life with the appropriate beverage until my demise.  With time the sadness will ebb for our family and her place in our pantheon will be secure. 

Each of us carries the immortality of those who came before us. Embedded in our humanity is an abiding hunger for life.

Thank you Margarita for sharing yours.