a Manhattan for Margaret

One of the few things we can be certain of and that is a universal truth for all living things is that our lives will end. For some death seems to be random and happen way too soon. For others they can reflect on decades and be ready to let go. These statements can seem like an over simplification but in the end isn't it simple? Death is an ending even if there is something that happens next it is still and ending to a piece of existence. Simple. Fin. It's often much more complex for the people who are "left."

Neither side of my family did anything traditional when there was a death. I knew both of my grandfather's mothers and don't remember doing anything when they died. When my father's father passed away we didn't do anything. For each of my mother's parents we had big garden parties, they were both cremated and after they had both passed the family scattered their ashes together which was a beautiful thing. But the traditions of a wake and open casket and mass and going to a cemetery were not something I experienced until the last few years. And today I became more involved in these traditions as I ended up being a pall-bearer today. 

My partner's father's aunt, Margaret, passed away at 97 and today was the wake, funeral mass, and burial. I met Margaret a handful of times and we got Christmas cards from her every year... she seemed like a beautiful soul. I felt honored to be asked to help stand with her body, move the casket into and out of the hearse at the church and burial ground and escort the casket in the church. The light rain set a beautiful tone for the day's activities. 

For me, I like to celebrate a person's life with something that they enjoyed. Today I learned that a Manhattan was Margaret's drink of choice.  So this evening when we got back home and returned our zip car... we stopped in at local bar for a Manhattan to toast Margaret and her 97 years. 

When I go (hopefully before I lose my faculties) use Chris Trapper's song Keg On My Coffin as a guide, (with the exception of there being a coffin) throw a big party, raise a glass and "smile and know I loved you 'til the end."