Death at a Funeral

11/8/2012
Recall a funeral you've attended and write about it. Did anything unusual happen at the event? How did you feel? Describe the situation -- who, what, when, where, why and how -- in three to four paragraphs.

I've never been to a funeral before. Well I might have, but I was probably too young to remember. I have been to a viewing though. One of my closest friends in high school recently lost his dad to a freak accident while he was water skiing.

It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. The whole day was sunny and clear, but when the viewing was about to start, it began to pour outside like I've never seen before. Inside, I saw a few familiar faces except most of them were crying profusely. We came inside and saw what looked like an auction for a dead man. A man I once knew was lying in an open coffin with his face construed in an artificial smile while his family stood before him and accepted everyone's apologies. I hugged Mike for a full minute and the only question I could bring myself to ask him was if he was there when it happened. He said no. After an awkward moment of silence, we started catching up on old times; wondering how we've been, if we've played tennis recently, how long he's going to be around for. It was hard for me, especially because I had never held a casual conversation before while a dead guy rests behind me. Plus, it was the father of the kid I was talking to!

We left and saw a few of my old classmates come in. I said hi and walked out to the car with my parents. It was still raining. On the drive home, though, it stopped immediately.