The other day, Ben and I went to the wake for our grandmother (not a blood relative grandmother, but I’d grown up with her so she’s just like a real grandmother). It was Ben’s first time at a wake, and I know that a lot of people don’t expose their kids to dead people, but I grew up going to wakes and funerals, so I don’t think that Ben needs to be shielded from it. Truthfully, some of my favorite childhood memories were in funeral homes.

Seeing my grandmother’s body didn’t really affect him - he didn’t ask why she was sleeping or why she wasn’t moving. He just made his spider fingers toward her and waved goodbye as we passed. After that he played with his cousins in the child playroom, building blocks, moving around cars, screaming and yelling like little kids usually do. At one point, they had set up chairs in a line and were sitting in them, and we figured it would be the perfect time to take some pictures. The thought was easier than the execution - it’s hard to get five little kids to sit still and smile, all at the same time. Eventually I got this picture, which doesn’t have a lot of smiles, but at least they’re all sitting down!

Near the end of the night, we went back to the main viewing room. Ben was chasing around his little cousin Leo, who was enjoying being chased. I had gone into the lounge to gather our jackets so I left Ben with my aunt. I guess while I was gone, Leo running around and went into the wake across the hall. He ran into the room, with Ben soon behind him (of course, people who were watching them caught them a little too late) As Ben ran into the room, he raised his hand up into the air and screamed “Roooooooooooooooooowr!!!!”, trying to scare Leo, but which I’m sure scared all the people there for the wake. Fortunately, they were pretty good natured about it and didn’t get angry. After that we made sure to keep the kids in our area.

With the seriousness of a funeral home aside (as well as the fact that people may consider it disrespectful to the dead), I kind of find it funny to think of Ben, running into that room, stopping in the doorway and making his best dinosaur sound. ROWR!!!

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 10:38 am and is filed under Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.