A Pallbearer’s View

We see funerals on the roads we drive on every so often. A funeral is the observances held for a dead person usually before burial or cremation. The procession, a long line of cars and truck, including the hearse and limousines, are part of the funeral.  I was taught to stop my vehicle and turn off the radio when a precession comes my way. Yesterday, I was part of a funeral, I was a pallbearer. I had not been a pallbearer for a while. This was different view of the funeral.
I saw the friends pay their last respects. Then came the family, saying goodbye one last time before the casket was closed. The funeral director said. “take as much time as you need.” The family wept together and held each other as they exited the building to their vehicles. Then the directors took the drape off the casket and put it inside, they closed the casket and then tightened a bolt that sealed the casket. Under their direction, we lifted the casket, walked it to the hearse and slid it inside.

We then got into the limousine that would take us on this procession. The pallbearer limo is the lead car in the procession. I chose to sit up front with the driver, did not realized what I was going to see on this drive. We departed the funeral home under the direction of three police on motorcycles. The speed of the procession is slow depending on traffic at the next intersection, after passing each intersection, an officer would pass us on his way to control traffic at the next intersection.

From the front seat on this procession, I witnessed some significant things. Cars would pull over and stop their vehicles on both sides of the road, some would turn on their lights. Some cars were oblivious until they saw the others stopped. I think once they saw the hearse they would stop in their tracks.

I also saw a construction worker put down his tools and stop his work. He walked over to the side walk and removed his cap and placed it on his heart. He stood there while the procession passed. At the last intersection before the cemetery, a lady caring her baby helped stop traffic until the police caught up to help control traffic.

To me, these people that stop did a kind and noble thing, they paid respect to the life of a dead person. It did not matter if the person was famous, or if they knew the person, people stopped their vehicles, and some stopped work. For a moment in time, my cousin was famous because she stopped the world. For a moment in time, people in the City of Corpus Christi, Texas came together to pay their respects. These moments happen all around the country. We could use more moments like this, when communities come together.