Letters to Tom — Funeral Attendence

Dear Tom:

Suzy attended a funeral today, the deceased was the husband of the owner of her company. Suzy hardly knew the man, but she went to honor her collegue and friend, and the family. Suzy was raised like most of us, that one attends funerals. Her attendence reminded me of an article I read about a women who when asked what she believed, she said, ” I believe in always going to the funeral.” Her remarks initially caught me of guard since I expected something different and of deep insight until I thought about her words and her explanation of their meaning.

What she was describing was an attitude. She meant always doing the “right thing” even when we really, really don’t feel like it. It means making that small gesture when we don’t really have to, and we definitely don’t want to. She is talking about those things that represent only an inconvenience to us, but the world to another.

She reminded me that most our days are not engaged in some epic battle of good versus evil, but doing some small good versus doing nothing. While we wait on the opportunity to make a grand heroic gesture, perhaps we should stick to those small inconveniences that let us share in each other’s tragedies.

We were raised to attend funerals, so one day when we are experiencing our own crisis we will turn around and find the room is full of inconvenienced people there only to support us.

Your Friend,

Webb

About the author

Webb Hubbell is the former Associate Attorney General of The United States. His novels, When Men Betray, Ginger Snaps, A Game of Inches, The Eighteenth Green, and The East End are published by Beaufort Books and are available online or at your local bookstore. When Men Betray won one of the IndieFab awards for best novel in 2014. Ginger Snaps and The Eighteenth Green won the IPPY Awards Gold Medal for best suspense/thriller. His latest, “Light of Day” will be on the bookstands soon.

1 Comment +

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *