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Jennifer's Funeral  |
Jennifer was laid to rest on a Tuesday afternoon. It was August 31st, 1999 at 1:30 when family friends, fellow Madrigals and old schoolmates gathered to mourn the loss of a precious life gone far too early. The service was held at Potere-Modetz Funeral Home in Rochester, Michigan. Paster Thomas Hampton of the Community Bible Church of Waterford officiated. I can tell the chronology of the events but I cannot go into much detail as that whole day was one confused blur. First, Pastor Thomas welcomed us and then eulogized Jennifer for awhile. After he was done, one of Jennifer's uncles talked about her and how she was loved by all. Once he was done, former and current members of the Southfield-Lathrup Madrigals sang a touching rendition of River in Judea, one of her favorite songs. After some more words from the Pastor, there was the procession to Christian Memorial Cemetery. Once everyone arrived there, we went to the chapel where some more words were said about Jennifer. After that, people were invited to Jennifer's grandmother's house for refreshments.
When I first arrived at the funeral home, I saw her parents and remembered a lot that I had forgotten. They reached out and hugged me even though they had not seen me in how many years. I remember all the times I would walk over to their house and have dinner with them. After saying hello to a few others, I approached the casket. In the box laid one of my dearest friends. But it wasn't her. That wasn't how Jenn wore her make-up, that wasn't how she did her hair and she would never have worn that dress. I could also see a little blue-grey bulge on her right temple. The undertaker had done a good job to give her an open-casket. During the funeral, people talked about what they knew of her but they didn't say much. I tuned them out and retreated into my memories of things we had done with each other. I remembered that time that her friend needed serious back surgery and she called me to be with her to comfort her. I also remembered that time that I asked her to come with me to see a family friend at the cemetery as I didn't have the strength to do it myself. I remembered how we relied on each other and how she should have reached out to me. But she didn't. Then I became aware of my friends around me and how they were relying on me to be the shoulder to cry on. So I played the part of the supportive one and held people's hands and distributed Kleenex. On the 25 minute car ride to the cemetery we played catch-up with each other to find out what we were doing with our lives. It may have been inappropriate but I suppose we all realized that losing touch may have been a factor in our friend's death. So we tried to make up for it then. The rest of the day is a blur, but somehow I came back home, packed for school and moved in.