Funeral

They held the service on Sunday.

The small chapel was packed with mourners, family, students, about 200 all told. They spread out from the flowered alter and into the court yard. At some point, they spilled out into the street, or so I'm told: I had a good seat in front with Luce, the Journal's photographer.

The service in the chapel was as short as it could be. The day was hot, hitting over 90 by noon. I hardly remember looking up to the alter with the ivory casket, but rather scribbling furiously as the many speakers rattled on about the Rose and her "young, vibrant life".

It was the usual eulogy, but with a star studded list of names. It began with the WLU President, who announced the formation of the Rose Williams-Cohen Civic Scholarship and a memorial rose garden that was to be planted in the chapel courtyard.

Next there was a city council woman, a Friend of the family and I'm sure, followed by Michelle Levin, Rose's "best friend since childhood" and finally her father and mother.

Last there was a swift blessing from the Lutheran Pastor as the air conditioning unit kicked into full gear, trying to even out the white hot light that glared through the massive stained glass windows. There was a massive exodus as the crowd moved out into the day, making their way to the various cars, following the hearse and the line of sleek black limos to the burial site.

March Meadows is one of the oldest cemeteries in Hayden. The old section stands beneath a series of small hills, and the stones are crooked and unreadable from years of wear. Much of the Williams- Cohen family lays there, side by side four generations of Hayden's founding family.

I heard the soft sounds of weeping as they laid here to rest in a fresh grave next to her grandparents, forever altering the order of the stones.

More notes, more quotes, my notebook nearly full, the crowd fell away slowly to return home. I make my way to a meeting of "close family friends".

It is here I expected to find some real material for the paper.

But I found much more...