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Insert 'Holy Grail' Joke Here
Well, why not hold the funeral at your house? There are more, and more varied, traditions surrounding funerals than there are surrounding marriages, in both our families, so I don't know how well this'd play in our neck of the woods. Then again, considering how iconoclastic our own marriage was*, anything's possible.
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* An all-expenses package to Jamaica. Think elopement, with invitations.
Well removing the body to a funeral home is a relatively new concept. Some of our funerary traditions do seem bizarre to me.
Posted by: Carrie on March 16, 2009 05:18 PMLike I always say: "We put the 'fun' back in funerals"
Like Carrie said, until, say, WWII it was common to hold the viewing at someone's home (usually the home of the decedent, or a very close relative) rather than a funeral home. While most funerals themselves took place (and still take place) in a church or other house of worship, I daresay it probably wasn't too unheard of to hold the services at home back then too.
Posted by: Mark on March 18, 2009 09:34 AMTo some extent, it was probably economic and it helped take the survivor's mind off of death as they'd need to prepare. Alternatively, if the family was coming together to help them prepare, it helped reinforce community bonds - something very important in small communities.
Posted by: ronaprhys on March 18, 2009 10:50 AM