Just came from a wake. Mel’s Trini dad died more than 2 weeks ago, but when I got notice of a viewing between 5:00 and 9:00 tonight, I dusted off Google maps and hied off to the funeral home in Scarborough. Turns out they were all on holiday in Tobago, when he got a heart attack on the beach, and he died right at the hospital lobby. Nice and quick, “He didn’t suffer.” At least, that’s about as much as I could get before she got whisked away, and I didn’t know anybody else there, so we can just speculate that the holiday naturally came to a close, and everyone flew back here with little joy. He was 65. I never met him, and the only reference to him I can remember was when we had a Trini Purolator delivery guy deliver something to work, and Mel said her dad would kill her for not having offered him a drink.
So this is the terrain of tonight’s destination. I’m scared of how Street View spoils me; I should’ve just imagined this. I took an hour-long bus ride here from the subway, where I left Joe to go down to Roy Thomson Hall. But while in the train, he instructed me to just go in there, fall in line, view the casket, say a prayer if I wanted to, then turn around to greet the family. Pretty standard, but I had to ask. This is, after all, my first Canadian viewing, so no sit-down dinners, crying ladies, gambling, muppets or Skyflakes. There was coffee, though. And in this case no pews, so mom sat on a chair receiving guests by the casket, where dad lay spiffily in a tuxedo and tinted glasses, while everyone else milled around. There were collages of pictures around, and a TV showed a slide show of family pictures. No overwhelming odour of flowers, though there were a few professional wreaths and bouquets with handwritten notes. It’s still winter, and who doesn’t own a black coat, so it was just like a sober little cocktail party. I met a guy named Paul, who kindly offered me a ride and cut my carefully budgeted travel time in half. So voila! Blog.
Joe: What, you got in a car with a total stranger??
Me: Yeah, I know, eh?
He could’ve been a serial killer! Most people lead two lives!
What? Most?
Most!
Most??
Most!!
2 out of 3?
9 out of 10!!!
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