in the span of one month (exactly 30 days)
i’ve attended two weddings and a funeral
the first was my nephew’s wedding
officiated by his uncle, my brother
a lively and lavish affair in florida
which included many fascinating components
of a traditional hindu bridal ceremony
the second was the intimate wedding
of the daughter of one of my best friends
also officiated by an uncle
and punctuated by lovely vows
for her adorable new stepdaughter
though the funeral was difficult
a vibrant young woman, only 34 years old
much too young to be saying her goodbyes
an amazingly moving tribute penetrated the
excruciating sadness of the standing-room-only crowd
i once babysat her mom and her aunt
and consider them my little sisters
sometimes the circle of life seems skewed
this service included rituals from
the young woman’s native american roots
the hauntingly beautiful drum-and-song solo
still reverberating on in my heart
so it was a bit of an event whirlwind
and i was grateful to be present at all three
but one thing i noticed with surprise
in different ways at each
was how, at certain moments
i felt somewhat removed, even
separate from what was happening
as a spectator, i’d taken a step back
and almost felt as if i might be
infringing upon the sacredness within
a trespass on the very private joy and grief
it’s kept me thinking about the
concept of ceremony ever since
what does ceremony mean to us as humans?
