Celebrating a life Well-Lived

On Saturday March 26th we attended the funeral service or our dear friend El Chino. It was an emotional ceremony but his will was not to mourn his dead but celebrate his life. Not an easy task for those who attended, especially his wife Jamie, his mother and sisters, and of course Monica, his best friend. 

The Chapel was decorated with pictures of him smiling, sharing, and enjoying life. A quilt of flags from Hong Kong, Canada, Guatemala and the USA represented the countries that were part of his life. An urn with his ashes ready to return to nature complemented the setting.

Jamie shared some of his last wishes. That there were no pending business in his bucket list, that his life was complete. He requested to play Bob Marley in his ceremony. A slideshow of pictures that span all his life mixed with Reggae was part of the event. One of his sisters and Monica shared some stories of why he was such a good guy. Afterwards, during lunch, we shared even more anecdotes, as he wanted to. 

After hearing all the stories and recollections about Eduardo we can say that he indeed enjoyed a Well-Lived life, happiness in the Aristotelian tradition of a virtuous life. Not a series of good hedonistic moments, but an intentional cultivation of virtues and excellence. Happiness as assessment of an entire life. As Aristotle says, “And we must add, in a complete life; for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.”

A perfect summary of such unusual memorial is the poem that was distributed in a nice booklet and I share with you bellow.

The Dragonfly

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying.

So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended. 

But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life!

~Author Unknown~