964 Nephew - Friday Funeral

Monday, November 6, 2006

The funeral was Friday morning. My sister picked me up at 10 am, and we went to the Presbyterian Church in downtown Orlando. Big church, several buildings taking up the whole block.

We had some difficulty finding parking, even though there were several multi-story garages in the immediate area. Sister's daughters were joining us, so there was a lot of cell phone coordinating ("There's a spot on XYZ street, near the ABC Bank, want me to stand in it and hold it for you? Do you have any idea where A---- is?")

What did we do before cell phones?

There were fifty (!!!) identical police motorcycles neatly parked side by side at the curb in front of the church, and several fire and rescue trucks.

Inside the church, the first four or five rows were all uniformed fire fighters and police.

The service was familiar, with
Prelude
Call to Worship, including 1 Peter 1:3- and John 11:25-26
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Hymn - "Morning Has Broken"
Memories and Reflections, eulogies by the fire chief, other fire fighters, Nephew's mother and adoptive father, and friends.
Solo - "I Can Only Imagine"
Scripture Reading - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and II Corinthians 4:16-5:1
Meditation
Pastoral Prayer and The Lord's Prayer
Hymn - "Angels We Have Heard on High"
The Testimony of Faith - Psalm 23
Benediction
Pipes and Drum - "Amazing Grace"

They asked that only the uniformed officers and fire fighters leave first. Next, all those who plan to proceed to the cemetery should leave, and line up on any of the streets around the church with your headlights and flashers on, and the officers will direct you into the cortege. That's when we left.

When we got outside, the motorcycles were all gone. (I found out later where they went.) Sister went to get the car, and I waited for her on the corner near the church, so I had a good view of what was going on. Traffic was totally stopped in both directions for several blocks around the church. It was all cars just sitting there with headlights and flashers on, and an occasional bewildered driver stuck in the middle with no idea what was going on. Pedestrians came up to me to ask if the church was on fire, or if a county official had died.

It was probably 25 minutes or more before things got moving. The police wrapped cars around the blocks, feeding them into the intersection nearest the church and then all in one line out one street, led by flashing fire trucks, then the hearse, then the family limousine. When Sister came past the corner, I hopped in.

So far, nothing had surprised me. I knew Nephew was well loved, had a lot of friends, so the crowds didn't surprise me. After 15 years in one fire district, he had transferred to another and had been there three years (I think), so there were two districts represented. He was also an EMT, and EMTs often have working relationships with the police, so their heavy presence surprised me only a little.

But --- what happened next totally blew me away.

Route 4 is the main highway ( 6 to 8 lanes limited access) going into and through Orlando. The cortege went through a few blocks of downtown Orlando, then onto Route 4 for about 10 miles, then through residential areas of Altamonte and Casselberry. About 16 miles altogether.

Every intersection and on-ramp, every U-turn, every shopping center and mall exit, for the entire distance, from start to finish, had a motorcycle cop or a fire truck blocking traffic. No other cars were allowed on "Nephew's road".

It was so strange on Route 4. We proceeded at a stately pace of about 30 mph in the second lane from the right, in a long straight line, and there were no other cars on our side of the road, the whole way. Florida is flat, so when we went over a high overpass, we could see the procession ahead of and behind us, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it must have been at least three miles long, possibly four, since we occasionally caught glimpses of the lead fire truck, but never did see the end behind us. The officers must have held traffic for quite a while after we passed, or formed a blockade after the last car, because no traffic caught up to us from behind.

I wondered what the people on the other side of the road were thinking. After a few miles on Route 4, passing on-ramp after ramp with cars jammed up, the other side of Route 4 started to slow down and finally stop. Maybe gawkers, maybe cars couldn't exit because the side streets were at a standstill, maybe they realized what was going on and wanted to show respect - maybe a combination.

Nephew was the definition of nice guy. One of the eulogists had said that if a neighbor asked to borrow a tool, they'd get the tool and Nephew too. (The same eulogist also said that Nephew's parties were best not mentioned.) So seeing all the traffic stopped, all the people who were going to be late, inconvenienced, I said to Sister "For someone who was so nice and helpful all his life, he's pissing off a few hundred thousand people today! Making up for it, I guess."

We passed through several fire districts on the way, and they all had at least one truck parked on the side of the road (or across an intersection) with a row of fire fighters at attention. The hearse was too far ahead for us to see, but I'm certain they'd have saluted as Nephew passed.

There was another ceremony at the cemetery, bagpipes, taps, flag folding and presentation, a hymn, ringing of a bell, presentation of Nephew's turnout helmets, more bagpipes, and the "Last Alarm". I'm not going to describe the last alarm, because in words it sounds so flat, but anyone who wasn't already in tears broke down then. I'm teary now remembering it. It was broadcast over a loudspeaker on one of the fire trucks, similar in format to an alarm for a fire or MVA, only this one was for Nephew.

After that we went to a fire hall for a reception and early buffet dinner. I had to smile - it was obvious this part of the day had been planned by men. They had roasted chicken, sliced turkey, baked ham, and meatloaf. They had mashed potatoes, kernel corn, and baked beans. They had cookies and (huge) chocolate brownies. There was an open bar. Notice there was nothing green. They had enough plastic plates and utensils for 200 people, and had to send teams out to buy more plates and forks, and several buckets of KFC. Everything was delicious, though (especially the roasted chicken!)

Later, Sister and I went shopping (I bought a warm fake fur hat, which I was glad for when I got off the plane in Albany the next day to 33 degrees F.), and then to her house, where we talked about life and love and men and forgot about time. I got back to the hotel at something like 4 am.

We should have watched the late news to see what was said about the traffic tie-ups that noontime, but we didn't think of it.

Oh, I forgot - at the church, at the very end, starting during the bagpipes I think, they had a slide show on huge screens on either side of the front, of photos from Nephew's childhood right up to recent, and then again at the fire hall. And yes, they did do organ donation.