So Very Young

Her funeral was on 2nd July. She would have been 24 on 4th July. She was a stunningly beautiful woman: an actress, singer and model. She died in her sleep. Not drugs or anorexia, but cardiac arrest. I played for her funeral: the largest congregation I have seen at a service where I was organist. The guests began arriving 90 minutes early. I played from then until the service began, without a break. Most wore something yellow, at the family’s request. Many were young. I was aware that many tears were being shed, that those present were listening intently to the music and that, somehow, I was empowered to play far beyond my natural, limited ability.
 
It was an ordeal. A woman sang a melancholy song. Family members and friends gave poignant tributes. There were many tears but, somehow, they all managed to keep going. During the service, the heavy clouds dispersed. The sun blazed in, illuminating the yellow, which people were wearing: it became suddenly dominant over the black and transformed the scene. The orange and yellow flowers on the coffin seemed to shine. Perhaps, the most moving moment of all came when she was carried from the church, almost floating on the waves of applause which swept through the building.
 
The last word belongs to a young woman who ended her tribute thus:
 
“May she teach us that life is too short ever to be despondent.”