Families and Funerals

We went to a funeral today. It was my dads cousins wife, and although she was 80, it was still a shock as she had not been ill.

There was a really good turnout, and that was noticed by all. It was nice that so many people wanted to pay their respects, and like me many found out things they did not know about her.

When we went back for the reception, and started talking about how long it was since we had seen each other, we were surprised at how long it had been. For small groups it was quite often – aunties and in laws tend to meet up regularly, but for most of us it was a year or more. A few had not been involved since a wedding in 2006 and for one, most of us did not recognise her, although as soon as her name was given we knew who she was.

So often families lose touch without really realising that it has happened. It’s occasions like today that bring it home and hopefully gives someone the incentive to arrange a couple of events.

For some people they don’t want to be in touch with family, and there could be good reasons for that, but in this case, everyone gets on, and while living in each others pockets may be just as bad, the idea of losing touch all together is not nice.

So hopefully the next few years will bring about a few more social events. They will have to be nice and sedate, as none of us are up for late nights and loud music. Some are in their eighties, and it would be awful to think that the next time we meet up would be for their funeral.