This may sound pretty unusual, but tomorrow afternoon will be the very first funeral in my whole life that I have ever attended in person. Can you believe that? It will be a good old traditional Dutch funeral with black limousines, a mass with a sermon, some hand-shaking and all that kind of stuff. In fact, until a week ago I had never even seen a deceased person before. Seeing a loved one you have known up close and personal lying like that is no fun. Just a discarded life form which has become discolored and gone away, far far away. To think that I have been spared such a ceremony for more than forty-five years is hard to believe, but it is true. That's part of life you might say, but not yet part of mine. In the distant past when the opportunity had arisen, my parents chose to shelter me from the so-called psychological trauma and distress of having to witness such an event. A learning experience which has been missed? Part of growing up? With so much death and suffering in the world, it has finally caught up with me. It is my turn to be normal like all of the other survivors. I am not looking forward to tomorrow afternoon, but I will go through it anyway with a strong heart and determined outlook for the future.
That's rather astonishing, actually.
I remember thinking myself very lucky to get to almost 30 before anyone in my family died. But the subsequent decade saw a sad and steady run: in the last ten years I've lost my father, my grandparents, an aunt and an uncle.
Personally I find the typical trappings of funerals quite distasteful. I don't think I will ever forget putting my hands on my father's cold, hard chest one last time, and that's really not the last memory I wanted to have of him.
Welcome to the rest of the world, Kiffin.
WOW! I won't even say how young I was when I went to my first funeral. Let's just say, by the time my dad died - when I was 12 - I had already been to at least three. Since then, I've lost count.
Like Brian, the whole funeral process disgusts me. In the past five years I've only attended those that were absolutely necessary. All others I refuse to attend.
Please do not get me wrong. Just because I have never been to a funeral does not mean that a loved one has never passed away on me. Indeed, I have lost family members, but funny enough I have never had the opportunity to see them dead nor go to their funeral. Believe it or not.
Got it. The only funerals I have ever been to have been for family members, so it was a natural assumption on my part. Sorry. Hope you managed to get through it well. I was very creeped out the first time I ever went to a funeral.
It went alright, and I survived the whole thing with only a couple of (mental) bruises. So here I am again up-and-running again in no time.