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Another Night at the Funeral Home

    It's amazing how many old friends and relatives you see when someone dies. I suppose "family night" or "visiting night" at the funeral home is like the old wakes. It's a terrible occasion, but you can actually experience some joy at them.
    You may feel terrible for the bereaved, you may be inconsolable yourself. But there are so many people there to mingle with. So many relatives you've only heard of, or kin you haven't seen since you were in grade school, or old neighbors, or former co-workers. You catch up on the news, you greet and meet, you remember when. Idle talk is made of getting together under better circumstances. You make a mental note that you don't look as old as your younger cousin.
    Maybe it distracts the ones closest to the departed. Maybe it helps us all move on. You pay your respects. You honor the dead and his or her memory. It's an unpleasant event you dread going to, but feel a little lifted up by it afterward. A morbid reunion, it always makes us wish we had kept in touch better.