ZOOM FUNERAL

August 6, 2020.

A long-time friend from my home town died. This friend was especially close and I had visited with him and his wife last fall. He had cancer and was not doing well at that time, so news of his death was not unexpected. Normally, I would not have made the long trip back to Ohio from California to attend his funeral service. But Zoom allowed me and my sister (who lives in Texas), to join in with 81 other households to remember our friend. 

The experience was interesting. The immediate family sat together in the parlor at the funeral home. Before the service began, people who had signed in with Zoom, called out their condolences and support. The bereaved family waved in acknowledgement. The service was simple: a brief slide show of photos from our friend's life, a talk with Biblical references to resurrection, a hymn, and a prayer. During this time I searched among all the other people who had signed in to see if I knew any of them. I recognized one or two family names, names I associated with friends and acquaintences of my parents. The people who carry those names now are children and grandchilden of the people I had known. Since I haven't lived in my home town for 60 years, I guess that should not have been surprising. 

At the end, people continued to send their love, then signed off. My sister and I spoke to each other by phone after the service. The thing we missed the most was hearing stories and memories of the deceased. In a service where people are physically present, that is sometimes done at the end of the formal part of the service, or afterward at a reception where people mingle and talk. While we were glad we could "attend" the service and thereby show our support to the family, the experience was not as satisfying as being there in person. However, because of the distances involved, we would not have attended in person. So I guess we must be happy with half a loaf.