Next of Kin

Spent most of my day writing up a job application including answering selection criteria. Now working on polishing up my CV to make it look good and inviting. It's always a harder job than I think it will be. This time I'm following the advice of all those recruitment specialists and using power words and positive statements and somehow trying to keep it all to just 2 pages.

My father died just over a week ago. He led a complicated life with two families and I'm the eldest of six children. The youngest sibling is 22. He died at his home in another state. And one of the middle siblings took charge of the coroner and the funeral. The funeral was supposed to have been last Friday. And due to time and health reasons I opted not to attend. My sister immediately beneath me also decided not to make the long journey. After all, this funeral was shaping up to be more for the younger 4 siblings to say their goodbye rather than something warm and compassionate and honest and encompassing the entire extended family. Especially when my father's estranged second wife emerged from her home to become the Star of the Show as the Grieving Widow. For she never really accepted that her marriage was over. And my father, to keep the peace, decided not to go ahead with a divorce. And it seems as if the younger siblings never accepted it either, saying that the physical separation was more to do with our father's work, not a breakdown in their marriage.

I feel sorry for my father's mistress most of all. I never met her but my father always spoke highly of her and held her in high esteem. And he spoke highly of her to other members of the extended family too. The only ones who didn't know about her are Dad's youngest 4 children.

And now, today, I discover through a small notice in an interstate newspaper, that my father's funeral has been delayed. Until this Friday.

Nobody told me.

If I'd been told maybe, with the extra time to arrange flights and travel, and with my medical appointments out of the way, I'd have been able to make the journey across the country.

Too late now.