Finally back home. God, so much to share, such low attention spans. I found out after the fact, that the line to pay respect at the wake went out the door of the funeral home and down two blocks to the local bar. Crazy. My cousin affected a LOT of people in his short life. The funeral was like something out of a war movie. We were escorted by cops and an antique fire truck (which held the coffin and many flowers and flags). The procession was long, took us by my aunt�s house, Jeff�s house, then to the church across the island. The entire Island (Staten, that is) stopped for this procession. Cops went ahead to block off streets, we didn�t stop at one red light. Cars pulled over even on the opposite sides of streets to watch us all pass. Some of the drivers were crying, but all of them had a solemn, respectful look on their faces. For the first time in my experience, people in New York were not angry or put off for having to wait in their cars.

We arrived at the church, and there were men in kilts playing on bag pipes. The street was lined with firemen in uniform on both sides, as was the staircase and entrance to the church. We got out of our cars and made our way, in front of hundreds of people, down the street and up to the church. In complete silence. When we arrived at the bottom of the staircase, we were stopped for some reason, I have no idea why, probably for effect. Well, it worked. Surrounded by all of these people who wouldn�t even fit into the church, all of those who loved or knew Jeff, his brothers in the various engine companies, well, we completely lost it. I hadn�t cried that hard all week, and that�s saying a LOT. We stood there and sobbed, a good 30 of us, as we slowly made our way into the church.

My Uncle Jimmy is hysterical, even in a time like this, he found the fun and humor in it (again, you know, my sick family). He was picking people out of the crowd like a bouncer in a nightclub to come in with the family. You should have seen the eager looks on people�s faces after he pulled the first man through the line of uniforms. Sick, I know, but it was great to talk and laugh about later. The ceremony was beautiful, the eulogies heartfelt. Jeff�s captain got up to speak, and talked about his impression of this kid who realized his one dream in life, which was to be a fireman. Turns out Jeff grew up right next to the captain�s very good friend, a guy named Jimmy. And it wasn�t until Jeff died that the captain found this out. When he stood up there, in front of the crowd in the church, and told us that Jeff never mentioned Jimmy because he wanted to really make it on his own and get no special treatment, the captain broke down and had to pause for a good 30 seconds. It was that kind of day. At the end of the ceremony, Jeff�s children were each given an Engine 10 helmet, exactly like the one their father wore. They were fine, straight-faced, still too young to grasp all of this. Wish I could say the same for the men presenting the helmets.

Leaving the church, a helicopter flew overhead, the bag pipes playing �Taps�, our procession slowly made its way to the street, passing literally hundreds of men in uniform, lined and at attention, stoic except for the tears on their cheeks. My cousin, John, had been to 4 funerals that week and told us later that he had not seen anything close to this kind of turnout. The plot was gorgeous, beneath trees in a woodsy grass field, and everything was brought to an emotional close when Jeff�s wife and mother were each presented with a folded American Flag. God help me, I lost it again at that point. Then, as a grand finale, white doves were released with ceremony and they flew up and through the canopy of trees.

Whew! The reception house was full of firemen and food. Everywhere you looked was blue, all these uniforms. Hmm, men in uniform used to bother me, but I look at a lot of things differently now. I actually got hit on by 3 of them, and I can�t say I wasn�t flattered. I had to quickly excuse myself from the boys (unfortunately), because we were headed out for Copake that very evening. For one more ceremony. The trip for the entire family that Jeff planned months ago. The cabins already reserved, because all he wanted was to bring everyone together. Well, he succeeded in that.

-Barbarella

previous | next