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I went to a funeral today for the uncle of a friend of mine, and I felt that I should write something about it, because I was deeply moved...
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HUME, IL-- Happiness, then sadness.
And then happiness again.
With almost the precision of a light switch, emotions churned back and forth among the scores of people attending the funeral of Hume resident Gary Weston Tuesday afternoon.
Raw pain among his friends and family could suddenly flash over into happy visiting and even laughter as they told stories about Weston and what he brought to their lives. Laughter would then turn to quiet sobs at the thought of his family, cruelly robbed of the man they knew as husband, father, brother, grandpa and son.
Happy. Then sad again.
And then the tears would come.
They rolled in big balls down cheeks. They hid behind dark glasses. They quietly pooled in the eyes of the tough-looking Illinois corrections officers who came to the little country church by the dozen.
There were tears when a country music song filled Gilead Church with words about a father's undying love.
They came when the pastor who had married Gary and Nina Weston almost 32 years ago described them as "picture perfect" that day, and how they remained a "matched set."
And they came when Gary, who was driven to take a dangerous job in Kosovo by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, was described by a pastor as befitting the title of "peacemaker."
"Blessed are the peacemakers," the pastor almost whispered, as three ceiling fans sliced thick, fragrant spring air inside the packed church.
Happy. Sad. Tears. But then laughter, again. For in this tiny church, there also existed a joyful belief that Weston had simply 'gone home'.
Weston, 52, died Saturday at St. Louis University Hospitals after being shot at the end of his first day as a United Nations prison guard in Kosovo a week earlier. He was a retired Illinois Department of Corrections officer, having put in 30 years and rising to the rank of captain.
He and a dozen other Americans were killed or wounded in the mysterious attack by a fellow U.N. police officer, who opened fire on their convoy April 17.
Little is yet known of the reasons for the attack, but officials are investigating the possibility the shooter had ties to Hamas, a militant Palestinian group. Some witnesses told journalists the man, Sgt. Maj. Ahmed Mustafa Ibrahim Ali, of Jordan, was smiling during the attack before he was killed by return fire.
Witnesses also said that Weston, the son of an Illinois State Police officer, pushed fellow officer Michelle Lindo of Michigan to the floor, shielding her body with his own. A few seconds later two bullets struck him in the head. Lindo received only a bruise where Weston had forced her to safety. "Greater love has no man, than that he would lay down his life for his friends", Lindo said at the funeral. "I am alive today because of Gary, and I hope the knowledge that he died a hero's death brings some comfort to you. He was a great man, and I mourn his death with you".
Weston survived his terrible wounds, but never regained consciousness. Sen. Dick Durbin arranged for Weston to be flown to St. Louis last week. Weston spent several days in the hospital in St. Louis before family members made the decision to end life support and donate his organs.
At the funeral, Weston's older brother, Ed, said the knowledge that at least four others benefited from that donation was helping ease the family's pain. "It's going to be a long, hard life without him," said Ed Weston, a teacher living in Cape Girardeau, MO, "but somewhere today, someone else lives because of Gary".
The Revs. Bud McDaniel and Larry Potts took turns eulogizing Weston as his immediate family sat close to one another in the first few rows. They described a man with "movie star" good looks who was greatly devoted to his church and his fellow human man. McDaniel said Sept. 11 affected Gary Weston deeply.
"He couldn't figure out why anyone would hate America so much that they were willing to give their lives to take ours," he said. Weston studied the Koran following the attacks, but found no satisfactory answers. McDaniel said. Weston, who was always among the first to pray for others on his church's prayer list each week, felt he was being called to Kosovo by God to help erase some of the hate in the world.
"Gary thought he could make a difference," Rev. McDaniel said. "And let me tell you, he did make a difference."
Only the best of American prison officers were recruited to go on the dangerous mission, said Isabel Hight, corrections advisor for the U.N., who came from New York City to attend Weston's funeral. "It was a testament to his professionalism, his competence and his ability, that he was hired," Hight said, her English accent standing out among the central Illinois drawls spoken by everyone else in attendance.
At the end of the graveside service, Hight presented the Weston family with a U.N. flag. "On behalf of a grateful world", she said, as she gave the flag to Mrs. Weston.
May he rest in peace.
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