Mark was one of the friendliest and most outgoing people I have ever met. He loved life, and made me love life. He was an eternal optimist, and could always find the good in everything and everyone. To him, the word ugly didn't exist; there was beauty in all, and his funeral reflected it.
It was sunny and warm today, the perfect day to have a funeral, if there is such a thing. The church was decorated in wonderful, bright flowers, the sun was seeping through the stain glassed windows, turning the church from a dull white, into a 3-D rainbow. It was more of a celebration of a life, than a mourning of a death. And that is how he would have wanted it to be.
Mark's mother asked me to select the songs that would be played, because I knew more about him and his musical taste than anybody in his family did. I thought I would have a hard time doing this, but as I sat thinking about it yesterday, the songs just popped into my head, as though Mark was telling them to me.
His favorite band was the Beatles, so I had to choose Yesterday. The next song I chose was Imagine by John Lennon. This song describes Mark perfectly, and our Art teacher played it every day in class, and he would always sing along. The one thing Mark and I really bonded over that none of my other friends and I did was our love of Boston sports, so I had to choose Beautiful Day, the Patriots Championship song.
I think a lot of people were offended by the final song I chose, and I thought about leaving it out, but then I thought about all of the people who hadn't lived to see a Sox World Series win, and Mark was lucky enough to see two before he died. He lived through the Sox, and got so excited over one of their wins in July once, that he accidentally broke a window in my house jumping up and down and dancing in delight, so I couldn't leave out Tessie.
Funerals are supposed to be sad, and involve a lot of crying, but my eyes remained dry throughout the service. I cried most of the past few days, so I probably didn't have any tears left to shed, but even If I did, I don't think they would have come out. Mark hated to see anybody upset, and crying isn't going to make the pain go away. Nothing is. The best I can do is to go about my life as best I can, and let time dull the pain.
It was sunny and warm today, the perfect day to have a funeral, if there is such a thing. The church was decorated in wonderful, bright flowers, the sun was seeping through the stain glassed windows, turning the church from a dull white, into a 3-D rainbow. It was more of a celebration of a life, than a mourning of a death. And that is how he would have wanted it to be.
Mark's mother asked me to select the songs that would be played, because I knew more about him and his musical taste than anybody in his family did. I thought I would have a hard time doing this, but as I sat thinking about it yesterday, the songs just popped into my head, as though Mark was telling them to me.
His favorite band was the Beatles, so I had to choose Yesterday. The next song I chose was Imagine by John Lennon. This song describes Mark perfectly, and our Art teacher played it every day in class, and he would always sing along. The one thing Mark and I really bonded over that none of my other friends and I did was our love of Boston sports, so I had to choose Beautiful Day, the Patriots Championship song.
I think a lot of people were offended by the final song I chose, and I thought about leaving it out, but then I thought about all of the people who hadn't lived to see a Sox World Series win, and Mark was lucky enough to see two before he died. He lived through the Sox, and got so excited over one of their wins in July once, that he accidentally broke a window in my house jumping up and down and dancing in delight, so I couldn't leave out Tessie.
Funerals are supposed to be sad, and involve a lot of crying, but my eyes remained dry throughout the service. I cried most of the past few days, so I probably didn't have any tears left to shed, but even If I did, I don't think they would have come out. Mark hated to see anybody upset, and crying isn't going to make the pain go away. Nothing is. The best I can do is to go about my life as best I can, and let time dull the pain.
