Endings Aren't Always Bad

living.boondockingmexico@yahoo.com

Panteon (cemetery) San Jose

 

 

 

Juan stayed at the house in town last night and I got home around 9:30.  There was not much else to do and some of Daniel's brothers and sisters were going to stay the night at the funeral home.   I had some difficulty going to sleep but when I did I was out and slept hard as a rock.  When the alarm went off this morning I must have been dreaming because someone was telling me the alarm was going off.

 

I went to the gym for an hour came home and got cleaned up.   Off to the funeral home we left right on time for the cemetery.  Juan was had gone to the cemetery early in the morning to sign the papers and pay the grave fees and taxes.   We didn't have any transito to guide us but the funeral home did a wonderful job.  Mexicans, at least here in Monterrey, are pretty respectful of the funeral procession.  The funeral home gave us all directions and instructions on what to do and not to stop at any lights.  It was a long drive through town at 20 kph but we made it there.  Juan's older brother, his wife, another nephew and great-nephew road with me and we talked about everything under the sun.  Life and death. 

 

In Mexico they open the coffin at the cemetery for one last goodbye.  We hired musicians to play a few songs.  I had been a trooper through the whole thing until they played Amor Eterno, a song made famous by the now deceased Rocio Durcal.  Once they started playing that, I gave in and it all came out.  I was just saddened to see so many people who at the moment were in pain.  Yes, it's life but as I told one of Juan's great-nieces, "you can't know happiness unless you know sadness".

 

We waited while they closed the grave and said our goodbyes.   After, we headed to Nelly's house for lunch.   We had roasted and fried chicken with mashed potatoes, rice, and macaroni salad.  

 

From my personal experience, I related to others the importance of getting together and keeping in touch.  Today we saw so many distant relatives that we hadn't seen in years that it was a bit sad seeing we all live in the same metro area.