Not Just the Royals

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and Consort to Queen Elizabeth the Second, died this past week at the age of ninety-nine, just months short of his one hundredth birthday.  That's not news to anyone at this point.  Nor, I imagine, is the fact that he will not be afforded a formal state funeral due to the coronavirus pandemic.  We've also learned that his granddaughter-in-law Meghan Markle will not be in attendance due to her pregnancy and the current restrictions on international travel.  His funeral will be small affair, a family affair.  

These past two or three weeks I have received several phone calls from folks looking to schedule memorial services and committals for family members who have died over the past year.  Services that would normally have been held much earlier.  Services that would have been much more elaborate.  Services that would have been followed by receptions for the guests,  Services that would have drawn sons and daughters, grandchildren and others from all over the country.  But such things couldn't happen.  And these important parts of the grieving process were delayed, and in some instances, simply given up.

Even now, such services will require masking and social distancing.  We won't be able to sing the deceased's favorite hymns as a congregation. Some family members will be unable to attend.  And on and on.  It is a cause for distress for some, and a sense of loss on top of loss for most.  This on top of the fact that in many cases family members were unable to be at their loved ones bedside in the final days and hours due to pandemic restrictions.

All of which is a reminder that death is respecter of no man or woman, and the reality that the pandemic touches even the grandest of lives.  For royal or commoner, Brit or American or otherwise, ultimately we are all merely human.  Mourned by our family and friends and loved by God who shares in our grief no matter who we are, no matter who we grieve.