Life is full of oddities. My Aunt Connie died about 2 weeks ago. I did not feel compelled to go to her funeral. Perhaps that is calloused, but it doesn't really matter to me. I liked her, she was nice and vivacious, but to be truthful she was a bit too much for me. A little too loud, a little too intrusive. I was saddened by her death, mostly for my father and her husband, but I was not overtly moved one way or the other. I thought something was wrong with me, and perhaps there is - but I cannot identify it, so I must move on.
My sister's father in law passed away on Thursday of this past week. This made me sad as well, but sadder than my aunt's passing. I didn't know the man - in fact I had seen him twice ever, but it was much more sudden, and he was so much younger. I don't know if these were the reasons that made me more sad, but these are the facts. I went to his funeral, a funeral of a man I didn't know. I did it because my sister and brother in law were there facing this loss, and I needed to go. I cried at this funeral of a man I didn't know, not for him - but for those he left behind. For my brother in law that now has no father, for my sister trying to support him through this time. Funerals aren't for the dead - they're for the living. I have said this countless times, and it rings true still today. I went to a funeral of a man I barely knew, and cried for the loss of him in my loved ones lives. Perhaps I am not so weird after all? Perhaps that is wishful thinking.
Monday, August 22, 2011
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1 comment:
That is so true - funerals aren't for the dead, they're for the living. It's about us grieving a loss, needing closure, taking a formal moment to acknowledge the life of a person. I've had to have this conversation with my Gramma before.
Death provokes many things in us - whether we know a person well or not.
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