On a recent Saturday, I attended a funeral to honor the passing of a friend’s mom. All I knew driving to the funeral was that she died of cancer, and that funerals are almost always sad. This particular day proved the latter wrong.

People say, or at least I’ve heard it said, that funerals bring people and memories together. The strange thing with this funeral is that I hardly knew my friend’s mom. All I wanted to do was support my friend through what has been a tough year. I decided to carpool with four friends, all of which shared the same sentiment: support our friend during this time of loss.

If you Google mapped our journey, it began in New York City to North Jersey to a quick stop at a rest area for gas and coffee and then a straight shot down the New Jersey Turnpike toward Princeton. During our drive, the five of us caught up on life, discussed various current events, commented on the blandness of the Turnpike scenery and then before you knew it, arrived at our destination.

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Yes, I’m aware that it’s only October, but I’ve acquired this bizarre fascination with the fact that three months from now, the 00’s will be no more. The inaugural decade of the millennium—an era spanning 87,658.1277 hours—will be history. So I’ve started my eulogy list.

1) Started college.
2) Got an email account.
3) Started following Jesus.
4) Converted to vegetarian…then vegan.
5) First dating relationship.
6) Got a cell phone.
7) Lived overseas.
8) Qualified for Boston.
9) Graduated college.
10) First break-up.
11) One-night-stand with sushi…reconverted to carnivorous living.
12) Took 40W to new home in Los Angeles.
13) Started grad school.

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Tomorrow is World Humanitarian Day. World Humanitarian Day exists to honor those who are serving the needy and to remember those who have lost their lives during their service. You can read about the history of this newly recognized day here and here.

 

Taken from the WHO website, World Humanitarian Day is

an occasion for remembering humanitarian staff who lost their lives serving others. There are many, and they come from partner UN agencies, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and numerous intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. WHO remembers its own staff who have lost their lives with great sadness, but also great respect.

 

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