Hev's Uncle Sammy Lee died last week and it was his funeral today. He too was a proper Romani Gypsy and married into a Romani family.
Massive turnout at Church then Hev & I were one of half a mile of cars following those friggin horses for seven miles to the cemetery for the burial. Burial is the only recognised way in their world.
I've been to a few funerals but these people are very different. The meaning of "family" means much more and is on another level from the norm.
Of all the people attending I was the only non gypsy there
.
Days like today remind me what I married into and it's still very weird for me even after 26 yrs of being in the family,
My background is so different. My ol' man retired as Vice President of City Bank - Toronto and now owns a Fraud & Investigation Company in Canada. The only banks they know of are the ones you sit on when fishing in rivers ........ bless 'em.
In saying that I'm certainly not running them down, Their morals, loyalty, hygiene and general ways of life far exceeds most of ours. The thing they seem to lack is being academic and this would be down to their education. Although most have settled now, many also spent years travelling. Schooling wasn't recognised.
Hev's Mum spent her childhood travelling.
The family is huge, and I mean massive, Every one of them greeted me by my name today including several I had never met. Maybe that is the answer to how different they are, That wouldn't happen elsewhere.
I wish I could have taken pics of all the floral gypsy caravans and bits but they don't take pictures at funerals. I never knew this until I had a swift elbow in my ribs followed by a "what yer doing" from Hev ......... so this is the only pic lol.