I attended my first Covid funeral today and it wasn't a somber affair like normal. I think maybe because I haven't seen the family whose dad died for over 30 years it was more of good memories. Their dad was a real character and one that people opened their hearts too.
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The setting was ideal as it was more of a conference center and not a normal church. I looked at the brochure and they cover every event including weddings and funerals. A one stop shop covering all bases.
I stayed with this family in the Army and got to know them well and there was nothing they wouldn't do for you. My bungalow or dormitory mate used to play sport together and we became really good friends and why I ended up staying with his family.
Every weekend in cricket season we would be out on Friday night clubbing and drinking to the early hours and crawl back to his folks place. In the morning we would wake up in time to shower and make it to the cricket field and sober up as the game started. Normally by 10 am in Durban it is so humid and hot you have sweated any alcohol out the system anyway.
I wasn't as bad as my mate though as I knew I would have to drive at some point and would be sober by 3 am and honestly never drank much anyway. I used to dread the drive back to his place as I had no license and was literally a beginner with very little clue. His house was at the top of a hill with numerous stop streets going up. As you can imagine hill starts at 3 am in the morning in a VW Beetle with a novice at the wheel will not be that silent.
Many times we never quite made it home and parked the car as close as I could get it. We would then walk the rest of the way and forget about it till the next morning. That is until his dad woke up and and then woke us up asking where the hell was the car? My mate looked sheepishly me at me and he never had a clue. There was always an excuse which the dad knew was pure bullshit. We ran out of petrol or the fuses shorted so the lights didn't work or something quickly thought up.
This never really worked though as the dad knew his son was drunk and maybe I had driven them home. I would never take my chances with that option as he was scary enough sober and never had great driving skills. On one occasion he was changing the music (cassette) in those days and we bounced along the side railings with sparks flying out. The dad would always turn the key and the engine would roar into life knowing we had lied. Sometimes we surprised ourselves how far we had to go and find the car which I found quite amusing.
Unfortunately my friend died in an accident the year I left the Army. I had tried to keep him on the straight and narrow but had fallen in with the wrong crowd. His family moved to Johannesburg and we lost touch for many years and have only been chatting over the phone recently. His sister is still around and the one member I know fairly well so it was good to catch up.
Time flies and my friend has been dead for 31 years now and often think about what he could have become if he had listened. He was a top sportsmen and fast bowler with the provincial teams fighting over his signature. I have no doubts he would have made it right to the top but sadly he screwed it up falling in with the wrong crowd. His dad took it hard and lived his sons life through his grand kids as they have been heavily involved with sport as well.
Next weekend I will get the chance to spend the day with them and catch up properly as there were too many people for the sister to spend time with today. As funerals go this was a happy occasion as it was reminiscing about the good old days.
Sounds like you have some really good memories of him and the family in general. I am sorry that you have to deal with this loss. At least it seems to be a good time to reminisce and not overly sad.