Got to have a sense of humor to get through it all!
I posted yesterday about losing my mother and several of you have been helpful with your loving thoughts.
I tend to deal with many things by keeping a sense of humor about it all. I have watched the post about "Gross Things" for weeks and have laughed my head off several times at some of the stories.
So.....I need to laugh and meaning this in a very respectful way - I want to hear your funniest stories about memorial services or funerals. We are always there in the most respectful ways but sometimes...well....things happen. Let me hear yours!
I'll start you off with one.
My grandma passed about 12 years ago. The family was all up front at her funeral and an organization she had volunteered with for years had someone there to sing a song. Well, the young lady got up and the music began. It was a song that always made my mother and I cry so I thought "oh Lord....here come the tears. I'd better get Kleenex."
The girl starts to sing and I have my head down. I look down the row and my mother and father both have their heads way down too. However, this girl is AWFUL!! Bless her heart, she is so flat that we could not help but laugh. So, here we all sit with our heads bowed and our shoulders shaking so badly that I know people thought we were consumed with grief. All three of us were laughing so hard we could barely contain ourselves.
While I appreciate the kindness of the song presentation, mom, dad, and I always remembered that and knew grandma would have appreciated the break we received that sad day!
On a different story: years ago, my grandma lived with my parents and had severe dementia. She didn't know who she lived with and had few ties with reality. We were all in the church with her and he was distraught by the funeral she was at. She cried and cried through the mass. I was not sitting with her and my parents. At the end of the mass, my parents got up with grandma and came over to talk to me. Grandma was still crying, took my hands, looked at me and said, "I'm so sorry. He was such a nice man." Poor grandma - everyone chuckled and looked a bit sad...because it was my wedding. Also, if you think about what she said, that could be taken another way, so there was a bit of humor to it. We did feel so bad when we realized how sad she was.
mother had a fear of waking up in a casket , wanted to be embalmed . i suggested to mia that we just bury her with a 20 .00 tract phone ..
lisa , i also think a sense of humor seperates the effective caregivers from the overeactive , exasperated amateurs ..
It's been many years since Mom saw many of the people at the funeral. When she and I were walking around the church before the funeral started to catch-up with people, she encountered a younger fellow she remember from her youth. They got to talking, she remembered him being a few years younger than her, but she asked his age and, when he told her, she replied, "WOW, ARE YOU OLD!" loudly and right in the middle of the church.
Everyone looked. I was standing next to my cousin and we just looked at each other and made kind of a funny gesture. I saw some people stifle a chuckle behind a hand, handkerchief, cough or turned face.
Anyway, we were in the front row, as direct family. The funeral director picked up my aunt's urn and started down the aisle toward the back of the church to go to the hearse. He gestured for us to follow.
But my mother got so confused that she tried to race him down the aisle. I had to grab her and hold her back. It was more cute than funny, but I thought I'd pass it along.
Y sis said it was hilarious and everyone was laughing and remembering him with happiness.