Sunday

Here I am on what is regarded as Resurrection Day in Christian mythology. It is a major reason why Christians adopted Sunday as their holy day of rest as distinct from the Jewish Shabbat. However when we study the Jewish traditions of the day, the Jewish lunar calendar and other historical data, we come to the conclusion that Resurrection Day was indeed Saturday, the resurrection of Christ occurred late Saturday afternoon or early evening. Being the Sunday of Passover week it is the 1st day of the Omer, starting the process of counting the 50 days to the next Jewish holiday - Shavu'ot known in Greek as Pentecost. Anyway......

Yesterday was a quiet day. I did not visit any shops nor did much in the way of housework. I spent a lot of the time trying to come up with three songs to choose for Sally's funeral. These are not necessarily sad nor sombre songs. Sally had said that if she ever goes before I do she does not want a sad traditional funeral, she wanted people to be happy cos she'd be in a better place no longer suffering from her health problems. The funeral director that I chose happened to go by that same philosophy, that although the choice is music is ultimately my choice he advised to choose songs that celebrates her life rather than mourn her passing. And so I came up with three songs.

The first song is played as we enter into the chapel and the coffin arrives. So I chose "Amarillo" which reflects the city where she was born and bred. After I finished my planned four months of touring around America and was back in San Francisco to board my flight back home, I still had two months remaining on my visa, so I asked my host to "show me the way" back to Amarillo so I can be with my Sally. And so she booked some flights for me that would take me back to Amarillo. It's all history now, it was during those two months that I ended up marrying Sally and my life would change forever........

http://youtu.be/SHuOagWzaws

The next video would be played while we place the flowers on the coffin or otherwise pay our last respects. We ordered only enough flowers for close family members but everyone else can come and pay their respects in there own way, even bring their own flowers. So I chose Yellow Rose of Texas. Sally is a proud Texan. When you ask most Americans where they are from, they will tell you "America" or the "US" or whatever. But when you ask a Texan where she is from, she won't ever say America, she will tell you specifically that she is from TEXAS!! And that is exactly how Sally was. Anyone who asked her where she was from, she would always say "I am from TEXAS!!" Texans are a unique and very proud people. Also the word Amarillo means "yellow". Just as the song says, I would be going back to my Yellow Rose of Texas during my America trip, to spend the rest of my life with her for she was the only one for me. There were indeed other women in America who wanted me while I was there, but no, I'd be going back to my Sally!!

http://youtu.be/IpHiURKkY0Q

The last song is played as the coffin is transported out of the chapel  and (hopefully) into the crematorium.... or alternatively into the burial site. We won't know until this week whether she will be able to be cremated, it depends on her final body weight, etc. Either way I chose a more traditional song, one of her favorites, it makes her cry every time she hears it, indeed it makes her think of mother - both her mother who passed away when Sally was just 13, and my mother!! Now she is with both mothers "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"......

http://youtu.be/PSZxmZmBfnU

Now just have to work on a tribute for Sally to be read at the funeral, but have a few days to do that yet.

Uh yes here's the notice I placed in our paper....

Anyway it is still yet early morning, but later today I will be making the 40+ minutes trip down to mother's old house for lunch. It is indeed a clear sunny day and warming up once again, just typical for this part of the world, doesn't rain often and is often sunny and clear.