Dame Lois Browne-Evans

Today I attended my first state funeral.
Dame Lois Browne-Evans was a remarkable woman. She died on May 29, just 3 days before her 80th birthday. Google her name, check wikipedia, or even click on the link in the sidebar to Bermuda's daily newspaper, and you find her many achievements.
And today was her funeral.

And I got so much closer to the event than I had hoped. It started with me heading into town (Hamilton) to view the body. Dame Lois lay in state in the city hall, complete with 4 guards at each corner.
From there I made my way to the place where the procession would start to the cathedral. I had no plans, but I found myself marching with the dignitaries behind the casket to the cathedral, thanks to meeting up with the right people. I got into the cathedral and sat right next to the main altar at the front. Then I walked with the crowd to the cemetary. Followed a good friend and church volunteer to the grave, and ended up right next to it.
It was Bermuda pure... the closeness of it all. I was literally surrounded at one time by the MPs and the government of the island. The premier was just a few yards away.
And then from the grave we went to the "wake"... a social gathering, with food and music. Again, the community was out in force.
The only question I had was, where are my colleagues? Shouldn't we be where the people are, and today they were at THE funeral. It was another taster of "what would Jesus do".