Consolation: Evan and his Mama

Juan wanted to be cremated, but tradition requires a Viewing for the close family, a time to take in the unfathomable reality of death. So there was a two-hour Viewing for family only, followed by the closing of the casket and the opening of the doors and a four-hour quiet gathering of friends and extended family: many hugs, fumbling words, tears, and quiet talking in the room at the mortuary with the casket. Mostly people just came and sat in silence. 

Bella chose to view her Tata one more time, briefly; Evan at first chose not to look. I stayed with him in the coffee room, playing UNO and tasting bits from the many boxes of pan dulce ; but in the last moments before the casket was closed, Evan ran in and checked to be sure the phone he made for Tata was in the casket with him. It was.

Many members of the close family came to the house in the morning before the Viewing, including Juan's sister Concepción, known to the family as "Concha" (1st extra). She and I had an instant connection. Most of the family is bilingual, but most conversations were in rapid-fire Español, and I could only catch every fifth word or so. Nevertheless, Concha and I held hands and communicated without words. 

The Big Show of the morning was when Maria (Cristina's mom, Juan's widow) pulled out her laptop and showed her sister Elena and me the many photos of her thrice-annual prize-winning floats (Extra #2, made by Cristina). Maria works for the local school system as the manager and dispatcher of school buses for the region. It's a massively complicated and important job, and she knows every driver, every driver's family, and every driver's skills and interests beyond driving a bus. Three times a year, the little town of Somerton has a parade with floats and costumes, not unlike Medieval Mystery festivals featuring Guilds. Each year there are prizes for the best float and costumes, and every year since 2012, Maria, who is the creative force behind the costumes for the bus drivers and the buses, has won First Prize. Three times a year, she chooses a Theme either related to the season (Gingerbread people--in which all the people had costumes made of brown felt and decorated like Gingerbread Men and Women, and the bus was festooned with lights and brown felt with red rick-rack); or she chooses a moment in Somerton's history or a popular movie (Barbie, Hairspray). Elena and I were treated to a show of the costumes and themes going back to 2012, and we were dazzled by Maria's creativity and skill in costume-making and float-design.