Posted by Venu Duval http://theemperoroftexas.com
Don't forget to read Part 1
From my Facebook in the Year of our Lord Two Thousand and Eleven on the Twenty Second of June:
"I am attending a funeral today. My dear neighbor died about a week ago. He was a bicycle repairman. Bless his soul"
This afternoon I went to say goodbye to my neighbor. I am happy I went. He had been laying in the morgue for about a week or so. He seemed at peace with himself. He was a kind man with a temper. A woman was standing next to his body in an open coffin. A neighbor woman that I recognized who would often come to see him. We shared eyes and she held his hand for a couple of seconds. She said a couple of things together with a few other bystanders. I think she wanted me to cry. No thanks. I am fed up of the charades. That's not what I came for. I came to tell him goodbye that’s all. After a while she left. So did the others. Except one. A bold looking man of about forty.
The place was now quiet. So I myself could hold the hand of my neighbor for about 15 seconds or so while closing my eyes. It was a moment of silence. It was a meditation to him. A prayer to the deceased. He was frozen cold of course. He looked friendly and somehow satisfied when I opened my eyes.
It had been a long life for him. I don't think he was very happy at the end of his life. The Netherlands had changed too much during his lifetime which was reasonably long. 83 years something like that. I think he could have easily lived longer. Still why linger on when one becomes sick? So I was saying that I held his hand for 15 seconds or so and closed my eyes. I didn’t’ cry or anything like that. I was just happy to tell him goodbye and wish him all the best in the hereafter or the next life or whatever it is that comes after Death. I didn't feel he was there anymore. His Soul must have left the body already a little while ago. So basically I was saying goodbye to a corpse. Still his body was there and he looked a child a little bit and he did give a nod of approval. It was touching.
Next to the chamber where the corpse lay was a place with quite a few people in it with a little shrine. There were two pictures of him on it. Well not exactly. A painting and a picture to be precise. One was a painting that you can see hereunder and the other was a photograph of him and his dog with two red candles in front of the shrine. I sat for about five minutes and then thought that it was enough. I had planned to stay there very shortly and not to stay for the cremation. I decide that that was it. I still wanted to take one pic of the shrine with a few people around it for the atmosphere. I knew I was on difficult territory here.
Besides there were too many people around the shrine, so I couldn't make a proper pic. I wanted to make a picture of the atmosphere there. The atmosphere was quiet and reasonably peaceful. I thought it was worth memorizing. After a while some family of him, I think it was his daughter, came to me and told me she didn't want that I take pics. She wanted something else of course.
I expected it. We had a little talk. I told her:'I am sure he wouldn't mind' and insisted. She said she really didn’t want it. I told her that it was a nice atmosphere and it would be nice to have a memory of it. I remained polite and gave her my condolences for her deceased father. She wanted me to sit and stay longer. I told her that I had a lot of stuff to do. Besides I was already starting to get into fights with other neighbors who give me a bad name. When I left one of them said he was in a midlife crisis. I told him:'I feel just fine! Good luck' and lifted both of my hands in a V sign in complete affirmation of my state of well-being. I am not interested in people who seek my attention.
I left in good Spirit. I must have been in the crematorium for about 15 minutes maybe a little bit longer. I will sleep well tonight knowing that Volkert Bakker is not in a morgue anymore. Why don't they just burn people immediately? I know the answer to that. It's a secret. As I write this I feel better to know that he is physically at peace and no more there.
These are the few words I have for you dear neighbor. May your Soul find a new body and may you enjoy a new life afresh. God bless. 83 years is a very reasonable time to wander on this planet. May the flames free you completely from Modernity and give you a new opportunity in a new life. Thank you for having made this moment for me possible. It meant something to me.
P.s: I forgot to say that I knew my neighbor before I became neighbor of him. We had some encounters when he was repairing bicycles on the street long before I actually became his neighbor. I told him that he was taking too much space on the sidewalk. That’s how I was when I was younger. The Law was the Law and I meant it. That’s how I met him the first time. After that he changed. Basically I put him to retirement which was not very nice of me. Still he remained always reasonably friendly with me despite the above. Once more:’may your Soul find Peace’. God Bless
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No appendix today..
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Posted by Venu Duval http://theemperoroftexas.com
That’s it for today folks. God Bless&See ya around.
