Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 20, 1991 TAG: 9104220250
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA TUCKER-MAXWELL
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I can remember driving down the highway with my parents, perhaps going out for ice cream or maybe to the grocery store, and the minute a hearse approached from the opposite direction, my father would steer the car to the berm and park, as would everyone else.
If the hearse came up from behind us, we did just what one is supposed to do now for emergency vehicles: We got out of the way. We stayed parked, in both cases, until the complete cortege passed by, then we fell in at a respectful distance.
I realize that is not really feasible now, but cutting into the line of mourners, or keeping them from staying together, is not kind. It takes only a little patience and a little forbearance. Those who do the unkind thing should remember they will ride in one of those processions one day, as mourner or mourned, and they (or their families) will recoil at the lack of respect to them.
Among words associated with "cortege" are "uninterrupted" and "continuous." This is the last time the line of family or friends will be unbroken. It would be wonderful if today's hectic lifestyle allowed for a momentary pause to let the cortege go unmolested and uninterrupted to the final site.
I hope Ms. Hale can forgive those clods that made her very sad day even worse. I also hope she understands that not all of us are clods and would like to restore the old ways, but in this fast-paced world that won't be easy. Lovely small-town values are dying, and their corteges pass us daily.
Just remember: Ms. Hale, the line may have been broken, but the circle never will be.
Sandra Tucker-Maxwell is newsletter editor for the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors.
by CNB