Purple

Tomorrow I will be attending Philomena's funeral. 

Philomena is somebody I know from the Freemasons and because of this, I will take the time off work and go along. It's mason's bro code. If there's a funeral, you turn up if humanly possible. Interstate masons are coming - living just down the road from where the funeral is taking place, I have no excuse. 

I can tell you a few things about Philomena, because she does deserve to be remembered. 

• She was a few months shy of her 80th birthday. 
• She would give you the shirt off her back under most circumstances. 
• She was not in good health for the last few years of her life.
• And she wasn't that good at looking after herself.  
• She loved music. 
• There was an amazing greatness to her lateness - and put me to shame. 
• She was an ordained priest in the Liberal Catholic Church. 
• She was a bookkeeper for years. 
• Her driving record wasn't good. Actually, it was pretty awful. 
• She always had a little dog. 
• She loved purple. 

When it comes to purple, I'm a bit hit and miss. A little bit of purple - fine - I mean, it's not pink, which I can't stand. A little bit of purple in moderation is fine. 

We've been requested to turn up to the funeral wearing a bit of purple. 

I don't own anything purple. Or lilac. Or violet, heliotrope, lavender, fuschia, wisteria, periwinkle, mulberry, mauve, plum or amethyst. As I said, it's not my colour. 

Being the obedient person that I am and knowing that Philomena will be judging me on high for not respecting her wishes, I got online to order a purple silk scarf. This was a fortnight ago. 

The scarf hasn't turned up yet. 

It then leads me to wonder where I can get something purple to wear to this event. It feels strange not to turn up with at least something within the range. Maybe I could put something blue and red together and pretend. Or wear my 17th degree apron, which is purple. Or race down to Big W and see if there's a cheap scarf. 

We've been told we can wear our regalia. I'm not sure how I feel about that. The funeral is taking place in the Freemason's temple. When asking the person arranging the ceremony for a few more details, I asked would they just have her ashes out on display. Oh no, full coffin. Hopefully not open (I think that would be doubtful anyway, she's been gone a fortnight)

Regardless, I'm sure Philomena would love that we're making a fuss over her. I'm going to race down to Big W to see if that lilac scarf is available, as a last act of respect. She'd like that. 

It will be strange not having her around. It will be odd going to masons, when the first question asked has been, for years, "Where's Philomena?"

It will be strange to walk into the temple and ask that questions, only to know that she's in the box out the front. 

Today's Song: