F is for Funeral

My theme for this year's A- Z Blogfest is DEATH (who I hope is like DEATH in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series): "...tall, thin (skeletal, as a matter of fact), and ALWAYS SPEAKS IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Generally shows up when you're dead, or just when he thinks you ought to be." Today we have F Funeral.

A Funeral is the last party you get to go to. Almost all cultures have some sort of ceremony to honor the dead. Many religions bury or inter their dead, others cremate them, and some send them off in a flaming boat. I've only been to a few funerals, and only one for a family member: my dad. It was nice. The organist played a piece my dad had written and a lot of us kids got up to say something. Afterwards, we we went back to the house and my brother-in-law played a film he had made showing my dad's life, from when he was just a little kid in britches, to his navy days, to when I was just a little rugrat on the kitchen floor playing with a pot, and all the way up to the last few pictures we had. He used the Let it Be album as a sound track and boy, all I can say is he did a crazy good job. It was amazing to see my dad's life played out in pictures.

Have you thought about what your funeral might look like? I kind of like the idea of a celebration. But most of the time it's hard to celebrate the loss of someone you loved, especially if you weren't ready to let them go.


Excerpt from Mort, by Terry Pratchett, in which DEATH takes on an apprentice...

 'Mort spent the afternoon helping Albert plant out broccoli. It was black, tinted with purple.

"He tries, see," said Albert, flourishing the dibber. "It's just that when it comes to color, he hasn't got much imagination."'