Sigh. Today I attended a cremation. There were just two of us there with the technician and the... deceased. I sang that song, "Angel," all the way home. I hope our friend found the way home with her angels a few days ago when she left the body. She was a brave soul who did a lot of good in this world. Sigh.
I'm so sorry, Amanda. I didn't know you could "attend" a cremation. Good for you for honoring her.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laurie. I didn't know, either, until my husband told me he would be attending. Back in 1983 when my mother was cremated, I don't think it was an option, but maybe my father just didn't bring it up. I know he and my brother didn't go to it.
ReplyDeleteThe funeral home told my husband that their Asian cremations are sometimes attended by 20-30 people. But I can say that while the technician was very nice, the crematorium (off-site from the funeral home) was not really arranged for folks to attend. There were a couple of chairs, and that's all. We didn't even sit down, though.
The technician gave us the opportunity for a final viewing, and he told us it would take about 15 minutes for the machine to go through its preparation cycles and then do the cremation. We only stayed for a few more minutes after the viewing, and then we left.
The technician was very sweet, and he opened my car door for me and told me he would take care of "mama" for me... a little creepy since I wasn't related to her.