click here for my SOCIAL JUSTICE BLOG
Get your ow
n diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

12:39 p.m. - 2004-12-15
scary Jesus centerpiece
I guess it makes sense that funeral home undertakers are a little creepy. Comb-over, short-sleeve dress shirt with tie. OK, par for the course. But did he have to have the WEIRDEST arrangement of centerpieces I've ever seen in my life on the table? My dad and his brothers and my grandpa and I went to take care of the arrangements today, and I could barely take my eyes off the table. In the center of the somewhat small, round table was: A very dramatic statue of a fly fisherman, a similar one of a golfer, a scary Jesus bust...the kind where he has the crown of thorns around his head and blood is dripping down, and one of those "patriotic" angry-looking eagle draped in an American flag statues that says "We will Never Forget 9/11." While I found this to be so weird and worth pointing out (at least mentally, to myself and now to you, faithful reader), I also realize that in many ways, these four things...golfing, fishing, scary Jesus and aggressive patriotism...reflect the heart of middle America rather accurately.

The other mentionable thing about this hour and a half long meeting is that my uncle had brought a bunch of things with him of my grandmother's, like her dentures, jewelry, her glasses, shoes, etc. Things she will be wearing for the viewing and burial. But along with these normal items that belong perfectly naturally in a room full of middle aged to elderly men and myself, was...a set of grandma undergarments. You know the sort. Beige. Big. These sat on the table for quite some time, because the funeral director asked for the other items, but he did not inquire about undergarments. So, they sat alone atop a plastic bag. After a while, my uncle moved them to another table off to the side. Then the floor. Then under the table. I think he became increasingly aware as the business at hand brought him a bit out of his (totally understandable) grief-stricken haze, that his very recently deceased mother's underwear was sitting on the table in front of a bunch of men and her granddaughter.

previous - next

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!