I knew her only briefly. Though she was my wife's aunt and lived in the same vicinity she kept to herself and we weren't close, but the body was there. Lying quietly in repose. I listened to the crowd and nobody was saying anything about the woman lying at the front of the room. The discussions were about trips to Florida, and being laid off, and about how so and so had cancer. There were a few pictures but nobody seemed to be looking. It was seven o'clock time for the deacon to offer a service for the departed. He stepped up to the podium. "I didn't know her", was his first words, then he offered a chance for people to stand up and give a few words on her behalf. The room was still. The service ended within fifteen minutes later. I looked once more at the body. She was eighty-four and the chidren, granchildren and great-grandchidren had nothing to recollect about that life. What did she do all those years? I turned away and my wife and I walked across the street to a Starbuck's.