Sam's funeral was sad, of course, but rituals are interesting to me and, in a subdued way, I enjoyed it. Viewing was at the funeral home in Lawrenceville, then there was a high mass at a church in the heart of visibly crumbling Trenton.
This parish is a meld of two former ones, the newest trend in the Catholic church, as it wrestles with its current woes. It's a big church and I'm sure would have been filled at every service fifty or so years ago. Now, it's surrounded by rundown row houses, some boarded up and abandoned, and a non-white population.
The priest was non-white, too; I think Indian, which seems to be another trend in this era of dwindling belief. Better off white boys seem no more attracted to the priesthood than the military, so we recruit the dark, the poor, and the unconnected. We already know the horrors inflicted on the world by a standing army, but whether, overall, religion does more good than harm is the unanswered question of the ages, I suppose.
After the mass, the cortege drove to St. Mary's Cemetery in Hamilton Township for the burial, and finally, about 40 mourners had lunch at a place in Ewing. I sat with a nice group of people who are season ticket holders for the Trenton Thunder, as Marilyn and Sam are/were. By the time I got to the dentist's, it was about 3:00; luckily, there was nobody else there and I was taken right away.
Stopped at J.'s on the way home just for a few minutes. Saw the two younger boys and chatted with N. Home about 5:00 and was pleased to get a call from the daughter of a neighbor, asking to borrow the transport chair. They'll stop here this morning. Changed, had a bite, then went with Frank to the production meeting.
Will interview the H.'s today for the November issue of The Breeze.