To the funeral home tonight for a visitation, for an old friend from KUT who died from complications of a very aggressive cancer. We were the first ones there, and it was about ten-fifteen minutes before other people started arriving, so we had time to talk with Leo’s sister and niece, who turned out to be married to the son of some people L knows through the square-dance community. Finally others began to arrive, and it got lively with people visiting and talking about anything from student drama productions to local fauna. A little before we left, a couple of people from the station came in, and just as we were leaving we ran into four more who were just getting there, one of whom couldn’t place me for a few minutes until his husband jogged his memory. We hadn’t seen any of them in several years ’cos they all went and retired from radio or moved on to other things, so we had a little visit and I expect we’ll get to talk more after the funeral tomorrow.
(If I ever get to meet Lyle Lovett, I must remember to thank him for writing “Since the Last Time.” That song perfectly encapsulates the ethos of funerals, and I can never go to one any more without remembering it.)
I went to a fun’ral
And lord, it made me happy
Seein’ all those people
That I ain’t seen
Since the last time somebody died.
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