Last Wednesday Sr. Florine's sister passed away. She had been in a coma for over two years, so her passing was not a surprise. But she had been Sr. Florine's closest sibling growing up and it was a hard loss for her. On the way to the viewing on Thursday, we passed a pre-Easter church service letting out. You can get an idea of the masses pressing against the car through the glare of the window. Those little dots in the background are people pouring out.
The deceased sister's daughter's husband is the pastor of an apocalyptic church. This is one of his several easily identifiable cars.
The viewing started in a family house in the morning, and crowds were still coming until midnight on Thursday. It is the custom to present to the family an envelope with money which has been collected for past medical expenses and burial expenses. The body has to be transported to the family tomb far away in the country where the family originated, and that is expensive. It is there placed in the tomb together with the others who have already died.
We stopped to get gas on the way, and someone was setting up a game on an old floor mat at the gas station. It looks like he is arranging the pebbles by size on the "board." Everywhere you can see men and children playing improvised games beside the roads, with cards, sticks and pebbles with the "board" scratched into the dirt. The boys kick balls which have been sewed and repaired infinite times until they barely resemble a ball at all. But they have awesome soccer skills.
We had a beautiful Easter, with lots of time for reflecting on and appreciating the meaning of the events, and no distractions of Easter bonnets, chocolate chicks and ducks and brightly colored eggs. Not that those were not somewhat missed.
No comments:
Post a Comment