Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Funerals are weird, aren't they?

This is going to be long. Sorry!

I never really thought about how strange a funeral ceremony really is. I've always thought visitations were weird. Sitting in a room at a funeral home, the pungent smell of carnations everywhere, and the relative who is no longer living, lying repose in a coffin for all to stare out. Yep, that's always creeped me out a little. But the ceremony in and of itself is very strange too. Going to a church (or a funeral home if no church is available), placing the coffin with the reposing relative at the front of the auditorium, and then conducting a service, with preaching and singing just like Sunday morning service. I know the service is supposed to make the family feel better and present them with an opportunity to say goodbye, but it's still weird to be sitting in a room, staring at a box where my dead relative is no longer living. I know, I'm weird and I have no heart.

At my uncle's funeral last week, I didn't get to go to visitation (I had to work), but I did make it to the funeral. I was sad, but I didn't cry. In fact, I think I smirked through the entire service, because all I could think about was how Uncle Bob was seeing Aunt Allene for the first time in five years. Seriously, I would have loved to have seen that reunion! I miss my Aunt Allene a lot. Especially her Chinese pork she made! But Uncle Bob's funeral was very small and held at the funeral home rather than a church. There was no live music, everything was a recording played over the sound system, poorly mind you. Rev. Jim Black, a long time friend and colleague of my aunt and uncle, officiated and did a good job. But because my uncle remarried, Rev. Black was not able to speak about many of the great times he had with my aunt and uncle.

But that's neither here nor there. The best part was what my mother called "The Case of the Travelling Flowers." At visitation, a lady (who shall remain nameless) walked into the parlor with a Wal-Mart bag, took out the $3.99 blue flower arrangement she had just purchased, and stuck them in a beautiful arrangement of red tulips. The faux flowers looked kind of like this, but with plastic BLUE flowers. Seriously, she STUCK her cheap blue plastic flowers in an expensive pot of red tulips. Now, the person who sent the tulips, came in and saw this hideous monstrosity and promptly removed them from her flowers... and put them in a pot with yellow tulips. The person who sent the yellow tulips saw the aberration in her pot of flowers, and moved them to a pot with pink tulips (there were a lot of tulips at this funeral). My mother, sitting on the sidelines, watched this and I think she even had to leave because she started laughing so hard! Oh, I think I would have been with her on this one!

During the processional to the cemetery, I got to ride with my brother. Jonathan is a Deputy for the Independence County Sheriff's Office, so he was in his patrol car. I hate to say this, but that was the coolest thing ever! Well, we reached the cemetery, and my uncle was laid to rest at Pleasant Valley Cemetery, right next to my Aunt Allene. And it all happened without a drop of rain falling on us. Thank God for small blessings, right?

2 comments:

Emily said...

I'm with you. Funerals are so weird. So are grave yards, and most things involving traditions and death. We are not still there! However, if a funeral can lead to a story as entertaining as the traveling flowers, I think I'm glad we have them.

Mirjana Jovanovic said...

Did you ever notice, that on funerals people, usualy the closest relatives, have an urge to laugh for one reason or another? The blue flowers are a perfect example. The most ridiculous part is that I can imagine that happening with my relatives. And there you have it, the bright side of funerals. :)
And I couldn't agree more, funerals are so weird.
I think it's because the funerals are realy for the family of the deceased, and the family acts like it's for him/her, so everybody is generaly confused and sad.

Anyway I like your blog, and I hope to see some interesting wiews on the world, such as this one and the deer fear. :)