STAY WELL & SPARKLE – Deep & Wide

Dr. Sam Christian, MD.
Dr. Sam Christian, MD.

The coffin rose eerily out of the earth – exactly as “We shall rise” was being sung. Yes. It happened right here, just last week, at the Catholic cemetery in Roseau. Breaking news? Try: breaking hearts. The coffin got stuck halfway down! Struggling, slipping and sliding, we shuffled it back unto the side of the grave. Chastised, the diggers got another crack at feverishly extending the hole.

Fr. Thomas had given him a warm send-off at St. Alphonsus Church. Mr. Phillip Daniel, my humble and devout neighbour from childhood in Didier Lane had become my patient.  From time to time, family would walk over and ask me to check on him. When we could no longer cure, we could still care. He slipped away from natural causes, a respected, retired policeman, well-loved and full of years.  Following mass, the intimate procession made its way up Constitution Hill to his final resting place.

Then reality hit. The short, bareback man wielding the pickaxe was standing just waist deep. The grave was obviously nowhere close to being the required six feet. The funeral home personnel were exasperated. Granted, many mourners vented unprintable remarks. The two diggers complained they were not to blame, having three graves to do that day. They were tired, pouring with sweat and relieving each other after short bursts.  Apparently, they are only paid a fraction of the $600 fee charged to the bereaved. No, they could not start ahead of time, not since a lady broke her leg from falling into a previously-dug grave.

If you ever wanted an example of ‘who dead, mus bury,’ this had to be it. ‘Let’s go home and finish this tomorrow’ was never an option. As a heavy pall of darkness descended, digging continued under cell phone lights and the re-directed headlamps of the hearse.

What stood out was how resolutely everyone forged ahead to get this thing done. Even the children were strangely well-behaved despite this abuse on their attention spans. I heard not a word uttered about ghosts or goblins. Was it because of the popular belief that spirits of the dead leave the cemetery as midnight approaches?

Now correct me if I’m wrong: They say if you lie down under a pew in church around that time, you can see the dearly departed trudging silently down the aisle. Instead of offerings, they carry clues to their true cause of death. (Not that I’m capour or anything, but I’d rather just stick with the pathologist’s inquest). Detectives working on cold cases however, might want to take note.

By then, mourners could no longer read the printed graveside hymns. In any case, they had already been sung several times. Mervin Moses (Christian Union Mission) took over.  He was the one who cooked the braf at our recent community service and was not known to let the grass grow under his feet. He was fervently supported by Teacher Francois (Seventh Day Adventist), Ruthann Beaupierre (St. Alphonsus) and nephew of the deceased, Evangelist, Griffin Daniel.

There was quick consensus for each next sacred song, whatever was familiar. The cemetery was transformed into this oasis of good will.  For one magical moment, there was neither Catholic nor Protestant, neither Red nor Blue – just cherished family and friends, neighbours and strangers paying their respects and sharing their common humanity.

Women let their lights shine and kept the children in check. Every able-bodied man jack on deck gave a full measure of energy in covering the hole. Spades making la fimay finished the job in record time. The delightful repast that followed at Didier Lane duly rewarded everyone’s patience.

Ah! What a fond farewell it turned out to be after all! He was laid to rest by his soberly-uniformed comrades, most born well after his long service on the Force. At first, the grave was neither deep nor wide enough, yet the experience somehow left a sweet fountain flowing in every heart.  Perhaps we could all do with a few hours in the cemetery at night, so folks like Mr. Daniel could teach us how to sparkle…

 

Dr. Sam Christian is a surgeon who runs the Urgent Care on 137 Bath Road. It offers general medical care, minor surgery, acupuncture microdermabrasion and Botox. To schedule your free wellness visit and tour of the facility, call 440-9133 or write [email protected].

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10 Comments

  1. Senior Citizen
    November 18, 2013

    It’s time for a Crematorium!

    • GREAT IDEA!
      November 18, 2013

      Cremation? That would be a perfect solution!

      Roseau cemeteries are overcrowded. When we going to stop digging up the dead to make room for others? That would twisayay people in most other countries. It’s time to save space and hassle.

      But we have to change the way we think. Most people have the image of bursting out of the grave at trump of God. Rising out of a vase of ashes just doesn’t compare for rapture people.

  2. just saying
    November 18, 2013

    There are times when all should put religion,politics aside.This seem to have been one of those times. Thanks doc for sharing with us your experience on that day. Good job as always.

  3. ST PETERS CHURCH
    November 16, 2013

    All those other religions think the Catholic is the Beast. They would gladly destroy the Church founded by St. Peter any time they have a chance. So all that singing you write about don’t impress me.

    One Church, one Faith, one Baptism!!!

    • WONDERING
      November 17, 2013

      Religious leaders are the one that divide the people for there own advantage. Plenty other denominations were represented. Stepdaughter Irma and granddaughter Jacqueline are from Trinity Baptist. Mervin is really from Gospel Mission.

      How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity (Psalm 133: 1). Nice report, Doc, on a funeral to remember. Grave problem? Every disappointment is a blessing!

      One love!

  4. Jennifer
    November 16, 2013

    I look forward to reading your weekly articles. This one had me shaking my head. I have to read this one to my family.

  5. Grave diggers !
    November 16, 2013

    i could just imagine the ambiance that evening. You describe it so well Doc.Looks like people were unity to bury this man.

  6. Grateful
    November 16, 2013

    Wow Doc! You continue to inspire. Have you ever thought of changing professions?

    On second thought, its nice to have a doctor like you. Looks like to follow your patients to the end.

  7. Annonymous Reader
    November 16, 2013

    Hmm…Doc you making joke about those grave-diggers, but the issue of the hole not deep enough or wide enough is an almost daily occurrence at funerals.

    It’s already bad enough that you’re sending your loved one home, but to hear that coffin making that kind of SCRAPING noise must shiver you.

    Roseau City Council or the Church (Whoever responsibility it is) need to get a small earth digging machine, like a bobcat for instance, to make graves. Those days of men struggling to make a 6′ hole should be long over.

    • Piay sal
      November 16, 2013

      I doh see how the doctor making fun of the grave diggers. To me, that’s the clearest voice for better pay and working conditions than they have in a while.

      I agree with you about the bobcat. Maybe they can teach those same gravediggers to operate that. We dafinitely have to move with the times. The only problem I see is the graves so congested, the bobcat wouldn’t have space to work. They would probably end up damaging tombs already there each time they try to dig a new grave.

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