On A Beautiful

I don’t know why I went.

I wasn’t invited.

Still I knew it was something I had to do.

I certainly didn’t need to be reminded of a similar beautiful morning almost thirteen years ago.

Although both ceremonies were held in relatively small chapels, they were quite different in scope.

Ours was held in the small but beautiful Chapel of Madonna Heights, sadly now desanctified.

The landscape that morning on Burrs Lane, Huntington, Long Island was exquisite . Today the vast magestic landscape of Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom was a reminder.

Both goodbyes were said on superb sunlit mornings. The two ceremonies were enhanced by familiar music that both the departed had appreciated during their time on this earth.

Two men had served their countries, their spouses and their families with honor and dignity.
Both were accompanied by only those who loved them for their final goodbye.

Neither had eulogies. Their lives and their families knew they needed neither.

Both were given honor guards. One representing his Naval Career; the other, his life long dedication to his country, U.S. Marine Corp. and law enforcement.

One man was honored by those who served in his household. The other by the Sisters of The Good Shepherd who permitted his funeral in their private chapel.

And this April morning as I watched from afar, I felt the pain of another woman who was left behind .

I could not help but remember the other sunlit morning; a different family saying goodbye.

I knew the reason I had arisen early, made my coffee, and went uninvited to another Prince’s funeral.

Perhaps it wasn’t the pain I needed to remember. Perhaps I needed to be reminded that love and pain and loss are shared by all of God’s creatures.

This morning as I watched from across an ocean , I believed another woman agreed with W.H. Auden’s words:

“He was my North, my South, my East and West,” as she said goodbye on a beautiful morning.