After the eulogy, there was music...pieces Margaret had selected herself, apparently, years ago when she'd pre-planned the service. Songs that were meaningful but not maudlin, celebratory rather than sorrowful.
Several other people spoke briefly. A neighbor who talked about Margaret's kindness. A library colleague who shared a funny story about Margaret's organizational system that no one else could ever understand.
Each story added another dimension to the woman Eve had known, showed her sides of Margaret she'd never fully seen.
The final part of the service was the committal.....Margaret had chosen cremation, her ashes to be scattered in the city park where she and Eve had spent countless afternoons when Eve was young. But that would be private, later, just Eve and the people closest to her.
For now, people filed past the closed casket, paying their respects in whatever way felt right. Some touched it briefly. Some stood silently. Some cried.
