Chapter 83. Burial

[At the cemetery]

The coffin is lowered into the ground. The priest stood by the grave said and said in a loud voice to the hearing of people gathered to pay their last respect, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust!” He traces the sign of the cross of the grave.

He turned to gesture at Mrs. Myles and her daughters to come forward. When they approach, the priest’s server offered Mrs. Myles a shovel half filled with sand. She took the shovel from the server and pours it into the coffin of her late husband. The same was repeated by all her daughters.

In Christianity, this act relates to the belief that man is made from earth and returns to earth. Many in New Orleans believed that this act symbolizes a way of taking care of one’s loved one even in the end.

When the rites of burial were over, Lucas approached Alicia. He came along with Jane to offer his condolences once more. He hugged him close to himself. “I’m s