I had never been to a wake. A couple of funerals. Not a fan. I liked the wake though.
I only met John a few years before he was diagnosed with cancer. My wife met his girl, Janet, in Vegas, where they became fast friends, and this was quickly followed by a legendary ski weekend. We shared a condo with John, Janet, and six of their buddies, each one cooler than the next. If you can judge anything by someone’s friends, John is missed and admired by a bunch of people I enjoy. Like the big dude everyone calls by his last name. I didn’t know many people at the wake, but I was confident I could pick him out of a crowd. About 6′5″, positively menacing looking, like he could eat nails, but the most affable and likable guy. He was wearing a black toque from Hugo Boss, pulled low over his eyes, that John had donated to him. He chuckled as he adjusted it, “Who else but John would buy an $80 toque.” I laughed a lot at all the stories people shared with me, and learned about John, like he was known to be a snappy dresser, as well as generous and unassuming.
Janet gave a great speech that was both touching and funny, and then we started to toast the man. I got messy drunk, shots were involved. And I had fun, which would please him.
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Love you guys!!! Thanks for coming and “toasting” John with me. He would have loved that we all had such a great time (whether we remember all of it or not!)
I was just reading a few History Facts and came across this;
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up; hence the custom of holding a wake.
I think we all had the drinking part down.
Great pic of you and Johnny! I have so few pictures of him but I’m pretty sure that in all of the ones I do have he’s always pointing at the camera… Love it!
Absolutely fabulous to meet you and your lovely lady. Let me know next time you’re in Vancouver.
PS: I brought Avvie home today…. finally got her tired. Only took about 5 hours. LOL
So what is the difference between a wake and a funeral. The drinking or course. But I’m presuming it is just no religious ties. Enlighten me.
There were no clergy, no remains, no burial, and it was held in a restaurant, but mostly it seemed like a celebration of life, and not the observance of a death.
That definately sounds like the kind of thing I would want for myself. Total celebration of life.
Last year I attended a family funeral and it was the worst thing ever. Nothing personal, no pictures, no great memories, just a priest who never met him saying irrelevent things about people in general.
Not nearly as great as remembering your friend for the great person he was. Very cool