SO UNFAIR

 

Many years ago, I went to the funeral of a fallen firefighter from a neighboring city. The response was so overwhelming that the church was filled to overcapacity and they lined up outside on the sidewalks. At the conclusion of the service, the man’s body was hoisted up by his fellow firefighters, and placed on the back of the engine. His last ride. The procession of emergency vehicles that day stretched as far as the eye could see. The funeral was in a northern suburb and the procession made its way south to Fort Snelling for the burial, as the man was also a veteran. It was a cold and blustery winter day but as we made our way down the freeways, on every overpass stood a contingent of firefighters at attention beside their apparatus. This went on for miles upon miles. This man was a young man with kids and a wife and he had everything to live for. I am sure he never dreamt it would end this way.

 

I contrast this with the people who are passing away from the virus and truthfully almost anything else right now. All of them are somebody’s daughter, son, sister, brother, father or mother or simply a good friend. Silently and almost unceremoniously they are committed to the earth, nearly alone. Their lives ending with little fanfare. They will never receive the public recognition they deserved, for a life well lived and all of those who knew them will never get to say a proper goodbye. Most of them too, I am sure, never dreamt it would end this way. They-- in the words of the poet Robert Frost, “Had promises to keep and miles to go before they sleep.” Their family’s want to scream stop. Do you know who this was? Do you know what he/she accomplished in their life? Do you really understand what they meant to us who are left behind to mourn?

 

 I am no stranger to death. We, as firefighters always tried to show as much dignity as we could when we were called to those scenes. Now, today, bodies are being lifted into refrigerated trucks by a forklift until they can be processed. Instead of a name they have become a number. Goodbyes seem to have been relegated only to the hearts of those close to them. Friends and neighbors are left forgotten. They will soon slip into anonymity and their stories will never be told. I don’t think many of us ever dreamed that there would be a time like this in our country. A time when death became so common place, there was little time left to deal with it or dwell on it.

 

As tragic as the death of that young firefighter was so many years ago, he was given that hero’s funeral he deserved. It doesn’t soften deaths sting or make death any easier but he will long be remembered for not only the way he lived but also for the way he died. So many of the deaths today of victims of the pandemic are not being remembered for the way they lived but more so only for the way they died and that is tragic.

 

I hope that someday when this is all over, that an annual day of recognition will be set aside for all the victims of the pandemic and they will have their day in the sun. That not only will the roll be called up yonder, but it will also be called right here on Mother Earth. Lest we forget and may all the victims rest in peace.