You Can't Avoid It

A few days ago I stood in the frigid January cold at a graveside funeral service for my friend’s husband.  Funerals are always difficult, but it was important to be there.  I was numb, but it wasn’t from the 22 degree temperature.  I was numb from thinking about previous funerals.  I offered up silent prayers for my mother and father.

When the solemn proceedings were over, my mind drifted to another funeral I attended on a chilly January day forty-one years ago.  I remember standing beside Sergei Kourdakov’s casket in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington DC.

A sudden intake of icy air caught in my chest and I shivered involuntarily.  When there is a death, it triggers all of your emotions . . . happy and sad.  You can’t avoid it.  A sound caught my attention and I looked up at the deep blue skies and bright sunshine streaming down on us.  I choose to celebrate the lives of those that have passed.  I remember the love and the laughter.  My heart smiled as I felt a sudden rush of warmth creeping over my frozen body.

A short excerpt from A Rose for Sergei:

Spring 1973

. . . I was the one that was still living.  Sergei left this world tragically at twenty-one and his life was cut short way too soon.  He was so close to finding the happiness that he was searching for.  I know his life was important and that he tried to make a difference in this world.