No updates for a few days.
Was away in Mumbai.
Got what I wanted to do, done. So that's a good thing...
Last couple of days...the topic of death and mourning cropped up a couple of times.
I was talking to one of my kids. He mentioned a special ceremony for his grandfather - 13 days after his passing.
It's a bit of a tradition - 13 days of mourning. I believe the scientific explanation goes something along the lines of...time required for the house to get disinfected from whatever death may bring in its wake.
Don't quote me on that though.
However, back to the point...the kid mentioned that he never knows what sort of face to put on at such occasions.
If you ask me...why should there be a face to "put on"? Why not be yourself?
Is it a rule that you must be somber, solemn, down in the dumps?
When my maternal grandfather died...the period of mourning was...wonderful! Nobody felt sorry for themselves or for him (he was in a better place). Instead, they shared stories and memories about him - essentially turning the mourning into a celebration of his life.
After a person has lived a long life...isn't that the way things ought to be done?
I can understand shock and grief if death occurs at a young age when it seems quite unfair.
Yet...people insist on being morose after a grand life has been lived.
Can't figure it out...
On a similar note...today, school was let out because some board member on the governing body died.
This person probably visited school once in recent (or any) history. He was not one of the names you usually hear in reference to the running of the school. He dies. You stop functioning?
How does life come to a standstill (in a matter of speaking) for random people who might not have even known this person? What does that achieve? Mourning? Mark of respect for what? Wouldn't it be a mark of respect to actually keep his work alive, even though he might not be anymore?
(I know that's overly melodramatic for just a one day closure but meh!)
Is it just me? Am I the only one that weird? Or is a random death a really poor excuse to shut down a place of learning?
I remember another time we were sent home from school because someone died. That was different. We ALL knew him. He had also died as the result of a road accident. People were in shock, dazed. A life taken away, his daughter - a schoolmate of ours - also snatched away.
One needs time to process this.
A natural death. Someone who we never saw/met...
Process what exactly here?
Was away in Mumbai.
Got what I wanted to do, done. So that's a good thing...
Last couple of days...the topic of death and mourning cropped up a couple of times.
I was talking to one of my kids. He mentioned a special ceremony for his grandfather - 13 days after his passing.
It's a bit of a tradition - 13 days of mourning. I believe the scientific explanation goes something along the lines of...time required for the house to get disinfected from whatever death may bring in its wake.
Don't quote me on that though.
However, back to the point...the kid mentioned that he never knows what sort of face to put on at such occasions.
If you ask me...why should there be a face to "put on"? Why not be yourself?
Is it a rule that you must be somber, solemn, down in the dumps?
When my maternal grandfather died...the period of mourning was...wonderful! Nobody felt sorry for themselves or for him (he was in a better place). Instead, they shared stories and memories about him - essentially turning the mourning into a celebration of his life.
After a person has lived a long life...isn't that the way things ought to be done?
I can understand shock and grief if death occurs at a young age when it seems quite unfair.
Yet...people insist on being morose after a grand life has been lived.
Can't figure it out...
On a similar note...today, school was let out because some board member on the governing body died.
This person probably visited school once in recent (or any) history. He was not one of the names you usually hear in reference to the running of the school. He dies. You stop functioning?
How does life come to a standstill (in a matter of speaking) for random people who might not have even known this person? What does that achieve? Mourning? Mark of respect for what? Wouldn't it be a mark of respect to actually keep his work alive, even though he might not be anymore?
(I know that's overly melodramatic for just a one day closure but meh!)
Is it just me? Am I the only one that weird? Or is a random death a really poor excuse to shut down a place of learning?
I remember another time we were sent home from school because someone died. That was different. We ALL knew him. He had also died as the result of a road accident. People were in shock, dazed. A life taken away, his daughter - a schoolmate of ours - also snatched away.
One needs time to process this.
A natural death. Someone who we never saw/met...
Process what exactly here?
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