Still, yesterday, in a funeral home chapel carpeted in a kind of fushia-color that only exists in a nailpolish bottle, one woman stood up at the end of my friend Teri's funeral, and brought the whole thing home.
She sang Amazing Grace. She started just above a whisper, with the most restrained, distant silence. Suddenly, everything in that surreal, artifically-soothing environment, got very real.
What a gift.
The song has a fascinating history. This morning I heard the story behind Amazing Grace is the subject of a new movie, and the Web site holds an archive of history, trailers, and more. (It's down right now and I couldn't pull it up).
It was a song loved by both sides in the Amercian Civil War.
It is also considered the Cherokee National anthem, as it was frequently sung as a burial song for those who died on the Trail of Tears.
Not sad today, ladies. Happy to be alive.
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