OMG I Amost Forgot about Funeral Processions

Okay, you don't see funeral processions in Los Angeles unless it is someone famous like Ronald Reagan or Michael Jackson. I mean can you imagine trying to have a funeral procession with all the traffic that they have in Los Angeles? It would be even crazier on the Los Angeles freeways than it is currently.

I am not sure that they have funeral processions in other parts of the world. So for my European friends who are reading this. A funeral procession is something occurs from the place your dead one's service is performed to the place your dead one's being buried. Everyone in the "funeral party" which is everyone who was at the service follows the hearse to the burial place.

The rules applied in most of the United States are:

• All vehicles traveling in a funeral procession must be accompanied by a licensed escort. Usually one escort is assigned for approximately every 10 to 12 vehicles.

• Funeral processions have the right of way. People are required to yield, and not interfere or cause an obstruction.

• Stickers (colored markers) must be attached to front and rear windows of each vehicle.

• Everyone that's part of the procession is required to have their lights turned on, and some states require the escort to use hazard lights.

I think depending on where you live (how Christian your town is), folks may pull over and bow their heads for your dead ones last ride.

I remember as a kid that you knew how important or popular someone was by the size of their funeral procession. I remember seeing, what seemed like 50 cars in a funeral procession and saying "Wow, that person must have been someone important." And then I can remember seeing 5 or 6 cars in a funeral procession and thinking "That must have been someone old."

The reason I thought that they must be someone old is that, to me, it appears that the older one gets the less people want to do with them. I think that is why I am drawn to very old people. Because I know that one day I too will be very old and I don't want people to be so busy that the forget that I exist. You know old people are put away into retirement homes and such and kinda taken out of society. I think it is sad and probably part of why they die. I mean they are moved from the life that they know to one that other's think will be better for them. This is what happened to my friend Ruth. I now that her son thought he was doing what was best for her. But Ruth was sooooo terribly upset about the move. I know, I got her monthly letters. After Ruth was forced to leave her home and move to an assisted living apartment she lived less than a year.

I like the feel of the funeral processions. It's like their passing is shared with the world during their final ride.

Ciao