The Funeral

Blog 3

Option #4

After reading the short story, “The Reencounter”, by Isaac Bashevis Singer, it reminded me of my experience of my dad’s funeral. My family is the first to have someone pass away here in the United States. Therefore, when my dad passed and was sent with the funeral home, my family members who came from Vietnam didn’t understand that it took a few days to prepare the body for viewing. Max Greitzer understood what was meant when the girl said, “‘Let me ask if she’s ready.’…The dead are elaborately fixed up before they are shown to their families and those who attend the funeral” (Singer 237). Seeing my dad made up this way was a bit uncomfortable. They made him look “different”.  As Max Greitzer questioned, “How do they produce a smile?” (Singer 237), is what my sisters and I thought of too. My dad passed away with a smile on his face, and it was nice to see a smile on his face while he lay in his coffin.

 My dad had a peaceful passing and was loved my many people. Liza had a wreath on top of her coffin (Singer 240). My dad had a spray of white roses on his coffin and 22 giant flower arrangement stands and 8 small flower bouquets of flowers surrounding him in the funeral home. There were so many flowers that we had to put half of them outside of the room in the lobby area of the place.  I never realized the amount of people that were a part of my dad’s life until seeing all those flowers. My dad would have loved seeing all those flowers. He would be picking out his favorite ones and taking pictures of them all with the family who gave it to him. He had a good life and a wonderful funeral.

  Singer, Isaac Bashevis. “The Reencounter.” American Gothic Tales. Ed. Joyce Carol Oates. New York: The Penguin Group. 163-174. Print.