Friday was a day without work for me. It followed a very busy Thursday, one full of emotions, both ups and downs. Even at that, all of those emotions were good.Starting the day was a drive to Clarks Summit to say good-bye to George Gilbert. George was buried Friday, following an inspiring liturgy at Our Lady of the Snows Church. Lapsed badly as I am, the RC liturgy always moves me, often to tears. Sadly, "Snows," as most call it, is a church I've visited but twice; both times because of the death of a friend.
Also both times to say good-bye and pay my respects to those left behind when a radio legend signed-off for the last time. Sorry to be corny, but it's pretty much how it is with, as Tommy Woods called us, Radio-Heads. Tommy himself being one of the biggest Radio-Heads to ever sit before a microphone, and a really good guy. I've been a self-confessed Radio-Head since listening to distant stations under the sheets on cold winter nights, and steamy summer nights as well. I'm also among the lucky, the ones who actually got out from under those sheets and made it into radio.
There are degrees, levels if you will, of the Radio-Head thing. Some are completely, totally, fanatically obsessed with radio. Others, not so much so, yet still being Radio-Heads without question.
I can't here list who was at GG's Mass of Christian Burial without the risk of offending someone. I don't want to offend. That all of George's magnificent family was there is all that matters; that I personally got to hug and kiss most of them is all that matters to me. The Schumachers were always so nice and welcoming to me, like they'd known me forever. Thank you.
And so it was that George was solemnized, eulogized, and then buried at Dunmore Cemetery, one of the oldest and easily one of the most historical cemeteries in NE PA. I'd put it right up there with Wilkes-Barre's Hollenback Cemetery, itself a ponderous burial ground. Today, cemeteries have websites, but I can't find one for Hollenback(if you know of one, please pass it along).
To say that both of these graveyards hold the remains of the some of the biggest and most powerful establishing families of our part of the world is pure understatement. Hollenback's rolling hills gently conceal the coffins of veterans of The American Revolution. Amazing.
Dunmore Cemetery's narrow roads are a favorite walking trail for those fond of a daily constitutional. So impressive a place it is, that I know people who have left specific instructions that they be buried at Dunmore Cemetery, coming only to that decision after walking the cemetery on a regular basis.
After the early part of Thursday spent saying good-bye and paying respects, the later half of the day was a time for a party; The SPCA of Luzerne County's Annual Celebration.
It used to be that the organization had an annual dinner, in the traditional sense. We've kind of reinvented the gathering. It no longer resembles an "annual dinner," which we've discovered pleases most people. There's food and drink and entertainment. My personal thanks to The Cameron Avenue Band, Damian The Magician, and The Doghouse Dancers. Also a heartfelt thanks to the generous board of directors, devoted employees, and dedicated volunteers who all make working at The SPCA of Luzerne County such a joy.
Friday, I did nothing, and loved every minute of it.
