“They will bury Vernon Malone on Saturday. He will receive a semi state funeral for he, like all BVI legislators, holds the key to the city.
The historians will chronicle his significant contributions to the BVI. They will keep it positive although he was not a candidate for canonization.
On Tuesday, there were encomiums for him in the Honourable House. But Vernon, as a law enforcement expert would have preferred Members to have spent that time addressing the crime epidemic that is killing the BVI.
But Members are happiest spewing empty, sweet sounding rhetoric which tires even the fourth estate.
On Wednesday, a former Ag. Commissioner honoured Vernon with a walk down memory lane with public participation.
Vernon lay in state on Thursday and BVI had the opportunity to bid him its farewell.
At the internment, he will likely be granted a 21-gun salute; For, as a former Police Commissioner (the first local to be so appointed) the brass will be duty bound to honour its own.
The Officers will be in their ceremonial wear, looking distinguished, and that will lend a high degree of dignity to the closure of Commissioner Malone’s life on earth.
(A sense of pride will shoot through his widow’s heart and provoke a fleeting smile on her weary, crestfallen countenance.)
The lawyers, too, will be present in their numbers. He, an attorney at law, would have expected that.
Dignitaries, family, friends, well-wishers will be on hand. The widow’s eye will miss no attendee.
The little man will not miss it. Vernon laughed his hearty laugh with him; They played dominoes often and, together, they destroyed a mountain of food. For Vernon, with all his priviledges, never lost the common touch.
Vernon will sleep the sleep of death with his fathers. He will not be taken into anyone’s arms. He will not have transitioned anywhere.
His grieving widow will be grateful to those who help her to mourn although she will, discreetly, observe some hypocrisy on display. She should rather concentrate on Lori Morgan’s voice as she sang:
“Imagine a world where no music was playin'
And think of a church with nobody prayin'
Have you ever looked up at a sky with no blue
Then you've seen a picture of me without you.”
Icis Malone loved her ‘Wernon’ to distraction. She was the strongest member of his fan club.
She will, in her nostalgia, forget her son, Malcolm, who helped her to look after his father. She will, instead focus on her own pain and wonder about the quality or even the value of life without the man she loves by her side.
But she will cling to the hope that Dottie Rambo and the Gaithers immortalized in song:
“Tears will never stain the streets of that city
No wreaths of death on my mansion door
Teardrops aren't welcome beyond the gates of glory
For the heart will never break anymore.”
Vernon’s surviving siblings will carry their own pain alongside the disappointment of not being allowed to see him at will, or at all, while he was on his sick bed.
They would have loved to wipe his brow as he walked through the valley of the shadows but they were not the ones who made the promise; “For Better or For Worse.” It was not their call.
Still, they may think of Ms. Havisham (Great Expectations) and wonder if their broken hearts were only collateral damage.
And the widow will receive the well folded flag that will drape the coffin of Attorney at Law Vernon E Malone QPM, LLB, CPA, MHA; A symbol of the height of the offices that he occupied in his life and his prominence in the BVI.
We hope it helps her to navigate her own pain and despair.
Vernon loved life. He wrung it dry. It was never his intention to take a healthy body to the grave but he took a wealth of training, experience, and blessings.
By accounts, his was a success story that ended far too quickly. He will be missed but the band will play on.
It must!
Fridays recognize Vernon’s chapter in the BVI story with the hope that his soul rests in peace.
Happy Friday!”