A Wake

Tonight (well, last night now) I went to a wake for one of my squad members.

I always liked him and we got on well. When we were alone, we had good, close conversations. When we were with my lieutenant it was the same. He could be distant and not easy to get to know, but I made it an effort and he was one of the few individuals that I never had any issues with at all. I enjoyed his company and one thing I remember really well was that he'd come out to look at the night sky with me on nights that we were on and let me prattle on about the different stars and planets.

And suddenly, he's gone. Out among the stars, I hope.

I was upset when I'd heard the news that he died but then to go to this open-casket wake and see him there, looking... looking... I don't know. I began to cry the first trip up there. When the second round came up and then there was the whole religious thing, I cried as quietly as possible through almost of all it. After that I walked over to my lieutenant and really let loose. And then I did my 15 minutes of guard duty and we had one last trip up.

When one of our own dies, we go in two by two, and go up to the casket and salute. The three processions are part of that. Also, at all times, the casket is flanked by two of us in 15 minute shifts. I was asked if I was up to it and I said I would be honoured to do so.

But I'm upset and I miss him already.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Many people miss him too, its a shame though, that now, many have something "nice" to say.. things that should have been said when the dead were living..
7 May 2008 at 13:55
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interesting Aftermath a From Season Five of "MasterChef"

Image
Do I agree with this? You will have to read it first and decide for yourself. I had long since made up my mind before finding this article. MasterChef Season 5 Fixed: Courtney Lapresi Won Finale After Getting Preferential Treatment – Former Stripper Favoritism BY  STORMY ELIZABETH  ON SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 "They say if you can’t take the heat, you should get out of the kitchen, but what if you like it hot? If you’ve been watching  MasterChef this season 5 , you may have noticed that one contestant in particular seems to  be “winning” challenges  when her dishes don’t seem to be quite up to it.  Courtney Lapresi  has been billed as an “aerial dancer” on the show. So what exactly is that, you ask? It’s a fancy word for stripper. You may term what she does as burlesque, but nekked is nekked and she takes off her  clothes  when she dances, so you have to call them as you see them. Plus is it really fair that she’s up for a MasterChef win aft
Read more

The Longairc-Green Family

This is a family that was on Nanny 911 , the precursor to Supernanny , which airs on Wednesday nights. While Supernanny is a better production and leaves out some of the dopey American-isms of stupidity (such as the opening scene with a much older nanny head whose television showing the family and their issues turns around into a painting on the wall), this show has its value. These families are clueless or don't bother to try and definitely need help. This family is an exception in that the mother couldn't care less what the monsters do and will do anything to mollify them. The father is more consistent and definitely takes a much more disciplinary stance, but the mother undermines it at every step of the way. The two boys are so unbelievably rude, I'd've killed them where they stood. The little girl only wanted a moment of attention and was not doing anything negative, and the mother was awful to her. The nanny, Nanny Stella, spent the first day observing. When she s
Read more

An Interesting Wife Swap...

Image
I'm catching up on our Wife Swap recordings. I'm watching the epiode Burroughs/Padovan-Hickman one that aired on 17 April 2009. The one I watched just before was really quite satisfying - the families both learned a lot and seemed to really take it to heart. This one, however, is back to the familiar mold of putting families that are so totally diametrically opposite families together that they almost can't get along. This is interesting, though, because the Padovan-Hickmans have electricity but don't use it, don't flush often, go for a week without showering and then the whole family uses the same bathwater... I can see where that would be hard, especially for me in that I have very oily skin and hair and would look rather wretched after the next day. But the family themselves are very likable and fun, the father looks more like a kindly grandfather, but really is quite intelligent and pleasant. I would have trouble with the clean thing and I'd miss my iPod
Read more