Re: Funeral thoughts
 

Over the past 15 years or so, funerals have been the only way to get my mom's side of the family all together (we all used to have Christmas together at my grandparents' farm when I was a kid).

After the ceremony is over, we all have a great time. Every time we comment that it's a shame it takes a funeral for us to reunite.

Re: Funeral thoughts
 

I've only been to one funeral, didn't even know the person, or the person's direct family. I'm not sure why I was there, but I ended choking up when the man's brother put his hand on the coffin and said through his tears, "thanks for everything Jimmy". Maybe its because I'm close with my brother, but that was really sad to see.

Re: Funeral thoughts
 

I went to a funeral in high school for the principal's son. He was a few years older than I was, and aside from being a couple inches shorter than me he could have been my stunt double.

The principal was shaking hands of people who came, and looked like he was dealing with it well, and then he hugged me and the tears came. Most likely they came again (as I had a limited perspective) but that impacted me a lot.

Re: Funeral thoughts
 

I had a roommate whose father passed away unexpectedly. That funeral was a real tear-jerker because we all knew him well and he was such a great, funny, caring person. The funeral ended on an interesting, uplifting note when the exit music was "Play that funky music white boy." People were kind of dancing out of there. Really great experience.