mourning the dead
went to the funeral parlour the next day. i was early. i had packed all his personal items (clothes, pants, belt, croc shoes, new shoes and so on) and brought it along with me. i also had his specs. we were told it would be placed in the coffin to be cremated together with him. i brought sapphie along. sapphie was my dad's favourite and i thought it would be most appropriate for her to join in the mourning.
when the whole family arrived finally, we were led to view the body. by now, he had been groomed. his face was bloated and together with his hair, it was covered by a layer of powder (or so i thought was powder). he was dressed very smartly in a suit. his belongings were placed by his side and legs. some of them were folders to buffer areas between his head and the side of the coffin. a couple more was folded and placed under his head acting as a pillow. this was followed by placing all the joss papers and buddhist offering before he was covered with another layer of cotton. more prayer materials and incense were placed before a final layer of silk was placed on top. we were told to give him our last words before they seal the coffin. this was when we broke into tears. it was highly emotional. i carried sapphie up to look at him. she didn't seem to register who the person lying in the coffin was. a monk came and presided over the final prayers.
we were then told to look away when the funeral parlour assistants finally seal the coffin. as it was a half covered coffin, we were still able to see him after the sealing. i noticed that in addition to the nails, the funeral parlour assistants had also used scotch tape to tape the coffin. i guess this was to prevent the smell from coming out before the funeral.
we have started the wake.
it lasted another 3 days before the funeral proper.
nb: we were told by the funeral parlour guys who did the embalming that my dad showed the typical signs of a person who had died of liver problems. his blood was black in colour when they drained him.
went to the funeral parlour the next day. i was early. i had packed all his personal items (clothes, pants, belt, croc shoes, new shoes and so on) and brought it along with me. i also had his specs. we were told it would be placed in the coffin to be cremated together with him. i brought sapphie along. sapphie was my dad's favourite and i thought it would be most appropriate for her to join in the mourning.
when the whole family arrived finally, we were led to view the body. by now, he had been groomed. his face was bloated and together with his hair, it was covered by a layer of powder (or so i thought was powder). he was dressed very smartly in a suit. his belongings were placed by his side and legs. some of them were folders to buffer areas between his head and the side of the coffin. a couple more was folded and placed under his head acting as a pillow. this was followed by placing all the joss papers and buddhist offering before he was covered with another layer of cotton. more prayer materials and incense were placed before a final layer of silk was placed on top. we were told to give him our last words before they seal the coffin. this was when we broke into tears. it was highly emotional. i carried sapphie up to look at him. she didn't seem to register who the person lying in the coffin was. a monk came and presided over the final prayers.
we were then told to look away when the funeral parlour assistants finally seal the coffin. as it was a half covered coffin, we were still able to see him after the sealing. i noticed that in addition to the nails, the funeral parlour assistants had also used scotch tape to tape the coffin. i guess this was to prevent the smell from coming out before the funeral.
we have started the wake.
it lasted another 3 days before the funeral proper.
nb: we were told by the funeral parlour guys who did the embalming that my dad showed the typical signs of a person who had died of liver problems. his blood was black in colour when they drained him.
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