LL> Hello Bob,   
      
    BK>> Went to a funeral today, for a friend of my wife. She was a   
    BK>> music teacher and performer. As such, so were many of her   
    BK>> friends, including my wife, and the woman sitting to my right at   
    BK>> the funeral dinner. Seems musicians tend to know each other.   
      
    LL> Working musicians often do know each other.  Even   
    LL> non-working musicians (no musician is ever truly retired).   
    LL> That does not mean that all musicians are friends with each   
    LL> other, although many are.   
      
    I have noticed that. And when musicians die they have good music   
    to see them off.   
      
   BK>>While we were sitting at the table waiting for the rest of the   
   BK>>mourners to arrive, a couple of black women walked up to us and   
    ...   
    LL> None of those attending were "mourners".  Here is   
    LL> Louisiana, those attending funerals are known as   
    LL> "celebrants".  Because that is what we do.  We "celebrate"   
    LL> the passing of an individual as he/she leaves one world and   
    LL> enters another.  This has nothing to with race, be it black   
    LL> or whte or whatever other color there is in the universe.   
      
    My wife has said, at her funeral there is to be laughter and   
    dancing. And no bad music.   
      
    She even suggested the 'mourners/celebrants' be given red clown   
    noses as they enter.   
      
    LL> We have a tradition in Louisiana with brass bands.  A brass   
    LL> band will play songs of mourning as an individual is being   
    LL> brought to his/her place of rest, and songs of joy after   
    LL> he/she has been laid to rest.   
      
    My wife wants that sort of thing, but, since she's a violinist,   
    she wants lots of strings.   
      
    LL> In that sense, death is part of life.  Or a part of life.   
    LL> No life can be worth living until the experience of death   
    LL> has come.  Only then will there be life everlasting.  And   
    LL> that is something that is worth celebrating.   
      
    And we have discussed that also. The only real reason we are   
    here it to continue a line that goes back to the first humans on   
    earth, and extends further than we can see. If we can't   
    contribute to that we serve no purpose on Earth.   
      
   BK>>She looked at the white woman sitting to my right, and said, "Oh   
   BK>>yes, I know her."   
      
   BK>>I pointed to my left and said, no, this is my wife.   
      
   BK>>Funny what we assume.   
      
    LL> Don't you know?  The woman is colorblind.  As most women   
    LL> are. Much more so than men, anyway.  Really.  I kid you   
    LL> not.  It is a scientifically-proven fact.  More women than   
    LL> men are colorblind. You of all people should know that.   
      
    There was a movie, "If you could see what I hear", about a blind   
    man early in his life. Sharie Bellafonte Harper played his love   
    interest. One morning they woke up in bed together, and she   
    asked, "Is it different to make love to a black woman?"   
      
    He answered, "You're black? Oh my God, I'm colorblind too!"   
      
      
      
   BOB KLAHN bob.klahn@sev.org   http://home.toltbbs.com/bobklahn   
      
   ... "No more experimental surgery for me," Tom said half-heartedly.   
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