I dont blame you shadou.
I dont like funerals neither.

Aww... that really sucks, man, who died?

Funerals are theater for the living, and generally somewhat less than Shakespearean in theatrical quality. But they provide that important sense of closure, that someone's life is finally over and that person is (hopefully) in a better place. The past is gone, as is the person that was in it, and we must move on now -- and through funerals, we shed some of our grief (never all of it, of course) and find ourselves more able to do that moving on.

When my Uncle Jim died, a year or so ago, the pastor reminded us of one of Uncle Jim's favorite jokes, as a way of helping us understand what to do with those wonderful memories. It goes like this...

There are two full wine glasses sitting on a table, next to a third --empty-- glass. Which famous king does this remind you of? Answer: Phillip III (fill-up-the-third).

What that pastor was using this joke as a metaphor for was this: Uncle Jim had two phases in his life, one where he was young and all sorts of awesome, and a second, darker time (the second half of Uncle Jim's life was very difficult for him...). What we now needed to do was to use our good memories to (essentially) wash away his pain and remember him well -- to "fill up the third" portion of his life.

A good lesson overall.

Great Aunt

And I have actually returned (went to the viewing, and the funeral ceremony at the funeral home but did not attend the burial).