Live-streaming a Funeral

He was the last uncle in our family. He was my mom’s youngest sister’s husband. I didn’t know him very well. When we moved away from New England when I was a youngster, we weren’t in touch as much with some family members, except for the rare visit and Christmas card exchanges. My mom stayed in touch more with her youngest sister in the later years with more frequent phone calls and emails. A few of my cousins were on Facebook so we followed along there. My mom passed away two years ago right before the pandemic. During the pandemic we started a cousin zoom group and my aunt joined us there. Occasionally we would see Uncle walk past and wave. I would always look for my mom in her sister’s face. We had learned that Uncle wasn’t doing well a while back and on the Saturday before Easter he passed away after being in hospice for a few weeks. The funeral was scheduled for this morning. We learned that the funeral would be live streamed so I tuned in today. My husband and I watched. I looked for my aunt and cousins and their families - many that I haven’t seen since planning my parents 50th wedding anniversary all those years ago, or a cousin wedding before that. If anything good can be said about the pandemic is the ability to visit with people and places via zoom and live streaming. It was a nice ceremony and tribute. Now my aunt is the last of the original family. So today I’m not only thinking of Uncle Bob, but of Aunt Jane and her family, and my family - as well as all the memories. It is bittersweet.