Moments of Silence

a lot of death everywhere recently. there always is. but i passed a police officer funeral this morning. cop cars and motorcycles and cops in full dress uniform everywhere. a whole cavalcade. i felt weird walking through the whole assembly (as it spanned a good two blocks in two directions) in my civilian scrubs so i just stood there for awhile listening to the bagpipes. cops looked at me and solemnly nodded. i think they thought i knew the person. that's when i thought i should start walking.

but also at work, we're covering this cancer diary story right now. and all these listeners and readers are writing in with their own stories of someone they knew or know with cancer. and it always seems like the people who get cancer are the go-getters, the people that are so full of life, the least associated with any kind of untimely degeneration of their bodies. but there is a respect surrounding those who pass away. a certain gravity. an acknowledgement of the privilege it is just to be here. to go through whatever life we have, to remember every moment. even the ones spent in contemplating death.


funeral dance from west africa