Wednesday, February 03, 2010

They Can't Take That Away From Me

I had the privilege and sad honour of attending a funeral last week.

We were putting to rest a great man, a peer of Ernö Goldfinger in London's post war architectural circles who went on to lay out cities in the far East and, in retirement redefined the concept of retiring. He had time for everyone, and everyone was treated as his equal.

I was preparing for the funeral and put on a dark charcoal grey suit ready to leave.

It seemed right. It was sober. Appropriate for funerals .

It was funeral uniform.

That said, it didn't say anything about the man, our relationship and his outlook on the world.

I changed; keeping the black knitted tie and switching to black cords, grey cardigan and white oxford. Inconsequential really but it felt far more respectful of our memory.

The last music was Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald "They Can't Take That Away From Me". Look up the lyrics sometime.

For me it's about how and why you choose to do things, cutting your own path rather than blindly swinging in behind the line.

We're fortunate enough to be able to make choices, so lets make a few.