FLEMINGTON-"We love Bobby," said CMHS Health Occupation teacher Kelli Tyler at Bobby Wise III's Celebration of Life last night at the Donald G. Walker Funeral Home.
She couldn't speak further for the tears streaming down her face.
Bobby, 18, of Woolrich, died Friday, May 25, 2012, at Hershey Medical Center.
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Friends gather outside Walker Funeral home on Wednesday night.
The visitors came in bursts, their sorrow marking wet paths on their faces as they held each other outside the funeral home.
One of Bobby's track coaches, Dawn Courter, talked about what a wonderful person he was.
"You can't say enough about Bobby," Courter said. "He always had a smile on his face. He was a friend to everybody. He was a great kid."
He was on the track team since seventh grade, she said. He was a senior honor student at Central Mountain High School, studying Health Occupations.
As I walked amongst grief that night, I saw the red-rimmed eyes of classmates and loved ones staring out, still stunned with grief.
What is grief? Is it the tearing of a life too soon?
A lone, young woman in a grey dress huddled on the curb, sobbing into her hands.
Teens held each other, sobs and shoulders shaking, dressed in their best to say goodbye to a golden thread that still holds to bring them together.
Two stark images stood behind those gathered: A white funeral house next to a red brick church-sorrow alongside faith. And this is the meeting of meanings that brings the exploding, heart-wrenching, "Why?"
The rush of cars passing the funeral home defied the reality of time standing still there as those new and old to death said goodbye.
