{"id":106845,"date":"2013-11-16T07:36:24","date_gmt":"2013-11-16T11:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?p=106845"},"modified":"2013-11-16T07:36:24","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T11:36:24","slug":"stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/","title":{"rendered":"STAY WELL &#038; SPARKLE   &#8211;   Deep &#038; Wide"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_96466\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96466\" style=\"width: 214px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-96466\" alt=\"Dr. Sam Christian, MD.\" src=\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/samchristian.jpg\" width=\"214\" height=\"309\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-96466\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Sam Christian, MD.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Following mass, the intimate procession made its way up Constitution Hill to his final resting place.<\/p>\n<p>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. \u00a0Apparently, 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.<\/p>\n<p>If you ever wanted an example of \u2018who dead, mus bury,\u2019 this had to be it. \u2018Let\u2019s go home and finish this tomorrow\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<p>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?<\/p>\n<p>Now correct me if I\u2019m 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\u2019m capour or anything, but I\u2019d rather just stick with the pathologist\u2019s inquest). Detectives working on cold cases however, might want to take note.<\/p>\n<p>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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n<p>There was quick consensus for each next sacred song, whatever was familiar. The cemetery was transformed into this oasis of good will.\u00a0 For one magical moment, there was neither Catholic nor Protestant, neither Red nor Blue &#8211; just cherished family and friends, neighbours and strangers paying their respects and sharing their common humanity.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s patience.<\/p>\n<p>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. \u00a0Perhaps we could all do with a few hours in the cemetery at night, so folks like Mr. Daniel could teach us how to sparkle\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>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\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"mailto:urgentcare.da@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\"><b>urgentcare.da@gmail.com<\/b><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d 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&#8230;","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-stay-well-sparkle"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>STAY WELL &amp; SPARKLE  -  Deep &amp; Wide - Dominica News Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d was being sung. Yes. It happened right here, just last week, at the Catholic cemetery in Roseau. Breaking news? Try: breaking hearts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"STAY WELL &amp; SPARKLE  -  Deep &amp; Wide - Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d was being sung. Yes. It happened right here, just last week, at the Catholic cemetery in Roseau. Breaking news? Try: breaking hearts.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dominica News Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-11-16T11:36:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DNO-Logo-Square.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cf13c57fb23f5f3f17888628ce87bed\"},\"headline\":\"STAY WELL &#038; SPARKLE &#8211; Deep &#038; Wide\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-16T11:36:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":748,\"commentCount\":10,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/samchristian.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Columns\",\"Stay Well &amp; Sparkle!\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/\",\"name\":\"STAY WELL & SPARKLE - Deep & Wide - Dominica News Online\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/samchristian.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-11-16T11:36:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cf13c57fb23f5f3f17888628ce87bed\"},\"description\":\"The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d was being sung. Yes. It happened right here, just last week, at the Catholic cemetery in Roseau. Breaking news? Try: breaking hearts.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/samchristian.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/06\\\/samchristian.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/homepage\\\/columns\\\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"STAY WELL &#038; SPARKLE &#8211; Deep &#038; Wide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dominica News Online\",\"description\":\"The most popular news site in the Commonwealth of Dominica\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cf13c57fb23f5f3f17888628ce87bed\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42ebaab81cf135a4ac3c52a6b343fa681417839645e8852f990f1e435612b089?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42ebaab81cf135a4ac3c52a6b343fa681417839645e8852f990f1e435612b089?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/42ebaab81cf135a4ac3c52a6b343fa681417839645e8852f990f1e435612b089?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dominicanewsonline.com\\\/news\\\/author\\\/tdurand\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"STAY WELL & SPARKLE  -  Deep & Wide - Dominica News Online","description":"The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d was being sung. Yes. It happened right here, just last week, at the Catholic cemetery in Roseau. Breaking news? Try: breaking hearts.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"STAY WELL & SPARKLE  -  Deep & Wide - Dominica News Online","og_description":"The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d was being sung. Yes. It happened right here, just last week, at the Catholic cemetery in Roseau. Breaking news? Try: breaking hearts.","og_url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/","og_site_name":"Dominica News Online","article_published_time":"2013-11-16T11:36:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/DNO-Logo-Square.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/"},"author":{"name":"Admin","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1cf13c57fb23f5f3f17888628ce87bed"},"headline":"STAY WELL &#038; SPARKLE &#8211; Deep &#038; Wide","datePublished":"2013-11-16T11:36:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/"},"wordCount":748,"commentCount":10,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/samchristian.jpg","articleSection":["Columns","Stay Well &amp; Sparkle!"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/","url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/","name":"STAY WELL & SPARKLE - Deep & Wide - Dominica News Online","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/samchristian.jpg","datePublished":"2013-11-16T11:36:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1cf13c57fb23f5f3f17888628ce87bed"},"description":"The coffin rose eerily out of the earth \u2013 exactly as \u201cWe shall rise\u201d was being sung. Yes. It happened right here, just last week, at the Catholic cemetery in Roseau. Breaking news? Try: breaking hearts.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/samchristian.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/samchristian.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/homepage\/columns\/stay-well-sparkle-deep-wide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"STAY WELL &#038; SPARKLE &#8211; Deep &#038; Wide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/","name":"Dominica News Online","description":"The most popular news site in the Commonwealth of Dominica","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/1cf13c57fb23f5f3f17888628ce87bed","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42ebaab81cf135a4ac3c52a6b343fa681417839645e8852f990f1e435612b089?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42ebaab81cf135a4ac3c52a6b343fa681417839645e8852f990f1e435612b089?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42ebaab81cf135a4ac3c52a6b343fa681417839645e8852f990f1e435612b089?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/author\/tdurand\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106845"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106845\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106850,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106845\/revisions\/106850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}