Rites of Passage

[Doc]

Seconded. Crisp me and scatter my ashes somewhere. I'd kinda like somewhere off the Outer Banks, but by the time that happens, I won't care if I'm dumped in a vacant lot.

As for the current trend in ceremonies, the ones I've attended have been a mixed bag. My uncle and grandmother were both traditional, viewing the body and all. I did not find those particularly comforting.

My Mom's was more like a wake, befitting her Irish ancestry. The funeral for a friend of mine was similarly upbeat in a grim sort of way, a time to come together and remember. The trip to the cemetary was reserved for family in that case.

I sympathize with Roland. Notoriously clumsy me had to pop Mom's ashes in her niche, at about head level. I moved veeeery slowly ...

I attended an Irish wake a looooooong time ago. There was about 40 or so people there, most of the them Irish, and those that survived to see the sun rise had to be Irish by morning. An entire cask of extremely hard cider was gone... No clue how much was in a cask, but it was a small wooden barrel. Enough black oatmeal stout to float a battleship. Home made stuff. And home brewed single malt whisky. Over a gallon of that. All gone. When morning came, the casket was piled high with shot glasses to honour the dearly departed. There were people passed out piss drunk on the floor snoring away, some in puddles of their own vomit. There were two women completely passed out naked from the waist up, who had done a bit of a strip tease for the departed the night before. Several pairs of knickers from other ladies had been left in the casket, or hung off the casket. (The lid got closed some time in the night) There was even a boy of about 13 or so completely passed out piss drunk. And he had seen everything the night before. (Younger brother of the departed)

God bless the Irish. They put the fun back in to funeral.