Musings of the Chronologically Challenged™ Fourth Generation

 

NO MORE FUN FUNERALS

One day last year, #2GS paid me a visit just to tell this story. He had been to the funeral of his GF's grandmother. It was his first Catholic funeral, so it was the only Catholic funeral experience he had to draw from. Quite the showman, he gave the following animated narrative.

"You would not believe what happened at the funeral," says he. "The service was different than I have ever attended. But it was after the services that things really got wild. There was this guy running around with a microphone like Phil Donohue. He just shoved the mic in someone's face and that person would say something about Grandma. That wasn't going too badly until he extended the mic to one of Grandma's sons. The son took the mic and took the floor and told this story." #2GS picked up a "prop" to use as a microphone, and ran around the room gesticulately and emoting as the "son".

"Grandma was a wonderful Southern lady who set the standard for manners and etiquette for our entire family. She always had time for anyone, but especially her grandchildren. They idolized her. I remember when my kids were just starting to school and they were bringing home new vocabulary words every day or so. I had several talks with them about unacceptable words and, of course, they gave the 'but so-and-so says it' excuse. I pointed out to them that many words they may hear would not be acceptable in our home. A good idea would be not to use any language that they had not heard Grandma say.

"A couple of weeks later, Mom, my 3 kids, and I were going someplace together. Mom was driving and the kids were playing in the back. As we rounded a long curve, we could see a road work crew ahead and the corresponding long line of waiting vehicles. Mom, perturbed at the unexpected stop and the anticipated delay, says, "And what's all this shit??"

"Well," says #2GS, "that brought the place down. Everyone in the church was in hysterics except the priest. He didn't think the story was funny at all!"

So today, when I heard about this development, I could think of one story that, if typical, may have had a bearing on the hierarchy's decision.

posted by HCL at 12:40 AM