It was a raw Spring day, windy and damp without the warmth promised by the ambient temperature. We left the funeral home in procession to the church. A Requiem Mass was read and at the end the white pall replaced by the American flag. We processed to the cemetery, where my brother lies between the graves of my parents and maternal grandparents. Another set of spiritual reading and prayers, and then two officers in dress blues (one a woman) folded the flag and presented it to Teri, Ted's widow. The Honor Guard fired three volleys and "Taps" was played; the bugler turned out to be an old sort-of friend.

Afterward we went to the community room at the parish school we had all attended for a lunch, and the Catholics can out-Jello the Mormons any day. I had two helping of what I thought was gelatinous space alien brain matter but which turned out to be blue Jello with blueberries. Too much sugar! Also industrial sized pans of tuna-noodle casserole, since this is Ash Wednesday and a day of fast and abstinence, one of only a few remaining, and which everyone except the church ladies had forgotten.

And that's the story of the funeral, Eiseley. We'll be back in Idaho this coming Sunday evening, and leave for DC for a week the following Wednesday or Thursday. "...the thrill is a long time gone...."