It's a sad day for my family. Auntie Isabel, the wife of my grandfather's brother, passed away.
Her immediate family decided to lay her to rest shortly after Christmas. I was already on leave for the holidays so I was able to join the funeral mass in the early afternoon. After the mass, everyone in her immediate family shared some of their final thoughts, stories, and memories about Auntie Isabel.
Her husband and my grandfather's brother, Uncle Albert, told me after the mass that he would like to sing later that afternoon. As it turned out, what he meant was that he wanted me to sing during the interment. I had never sung at an interment before so I had no song in my back pocket for this kind of situation. However, something the priest said during the mass struck me. It was about smiling. I can't recall if it was smiling in the face of death or smiling when we finally meet our Creator. So I thought of 'Smile' (composed by Charlie Chaplin and David Raksin, with Nat King Cole recording the first version with lyrics) and decided to sing it.
Lyrically, t turned out to be a good choice. Here are the first two verses of this beautiful song:
Smile, though your heart is achin'
Smile, even though it's breakin'
When there are are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shinin' through,
For you...
The other people who were present soon started singing with me and when the song was done, Uncle Albert asked me to sing it again. I guess people there connected to the song and its lyrics. "You'll find that life is still worth while if you just smile."
We love you and we miss you, Auntie Isabel. May you rest in peace.
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