I just came back from Daniel Im's church, from a "pre-funeral", where a couple of cellists and violinists that are under the tutelage of Mr. and Mrs. Kim gathered together to practice a few pieces we could play at the funeral of Richard Sim (19), who was only a freshman in college and one of the most awe-inspiring violinists ever.
I only saw him when I went to my lessons, where he would be teaching my teacher's daughter violin. However, he always greeted me with a smile, and vice versa. Everyone knew him for his kindness and relatively good looks, and we were crushed when we found out he had passed away two days ago; but we all started practicing the two pieces we received in lively spirits.
Nobody mentioned Richard's name until after we had practiced for two hours. When we all settled down after we got back from our break, Mrs. Kim started off by telling us how Richard had died.
He had been at her house she said, on Saturday as usual since he taught her 6-year old daughter violin and also played with her afterwards. Mrs. Kim told us with a laugh that she had been giving one of her students a lesson when they heard someone singing loudly and horribly from her daughter's room upstairs. It was Richard, and as usual he was being his silly self. He later went directly home where his dad insisted on buying him dinner for studying so hard on his finals. Richard had told his dad he wanted to stay home so instead, his older brother Steve went to go buy take-out food at the Red Lobster. Richard was flipping through the channels when his last words to his mom were: "형아 언제 와?" ("When is Steve coming home?") before he had a heart attack and went into a coma. He was rushed into the emergency room where the doctors did all they could but he was already dead.
At this point, Mrs. Kim started crying and several others were as well. The parents who were patiently waiting for us to finish were also crying. The room was quiet except for the occasional sniffling when Mrs. Kim told us she believed Richard was right by God and he was happy. She said with a choked voice, "So let's speak to Richard in our language- our language of music- because I believe he is listening to us right this very moment."
With that said, we began playing. I glanced every now and then to see Mrs. Kim silently crying while playing her cello. It was a heart-breaking sight to see, and my eyes also brimmed with tears but I didn't dare let them fall, knowing that I wouldn't be able to stop them if even one tear slid down my face.
It was, safe to say, the best we played ever tonight. All our instruments seemed to cry out with the music, and all of us played with our solemn yet stoic faces.
Simply put, we put our hearts into the music to present something worth giving to Richard, and it was beautiful.

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In paradisum deducant te Angeli;
in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres,
et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem.
Chorus angelorum te suscipiat,
et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

May angels lead you into Paradise;
may the martyrs receive you at your coming
and lead you to the holy city of Jerusalem.
May a choir of angels receive you,
and with Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest.