The Funeral Procession

A Dying Tradition

As the funeral procession dies, its vanguard dies as well.

“I WAS STANDING BY MY WINDOW on a cold and cloudy day when I saw that hearse come rolling for to carry my mother away.”

When I see a hearse leading a procession of bright lights, I pull over. As I rode behind my father’s hearse oncoming traffic pulled over, lifting my heart at its heaviest moment. “I may not know you, but you are making that last trip that I, too, must make. Farewell friend.” It was the same with my mother’s procession, comforting.

I hope our tradition never dies, but signs say it may. Seems some don’t share our tradition for funeral processions or don’t respect it. Maybe they don’t recognize it. Many vehicles automatically run with headlights on … don’t you see that hearse?

Friends and I were discussing the funeral cortege, that five dollar word for a solemn procession. I asked a woman with an accent unlike mine if she pulled over for funerals. “Heavens no,” she said. “ I fall in line and turn my headlights on and go right through stoplights. It saves time.” We live in a graceless age. And so the tradition that began long ago faces trouble.

Stopping for a funeral procession began when cars drove alongside horse and buggies. Because engine noise might cause horses to bolt, cars stopped as a horse-drawn procession of buggies clopped by. A simple act evolved into a show of respect.

That was then; this is now. Common decency is falling out of style. I hear a law may mandate drivers pull over to respect the dead. That diminishes you, and it diminishes me. “Oh, they’re just stopping because it’s the law.”

Pulling over for a funeral procession is not just a Southern thing. Folks in the Mid-West pull over, get out of their car, and doff their hats and bow their heads as the dearly departed journeys to eternity.

Must everything give way to the hustle and bustle of a frenzied society trapped in a rat race? May the last tribute last. We may not go out in a blaze of glory, but lights at least can lead the way.