Grandma's Funeral

It could have been a really long and painful weekend for me in Dallas, but it turned out to be very cathartic. Seeing all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins made things so much easier.

The funeral service was on Friday morning. Most of my family members are Christian, however my grandma was Buddhist and never converted, so the funeral was done in the Buddhist tradition.

I had never seen a dead body before, so seeing my grandma in the open casket really got to me. She just didn’t look right. When it was my turn to lay a rose in her casket, I barely looked at her before stepping away.

But the tough part was at the crematory. Everyone stood by the furnace at the crematory, chanting in the traditional Buddhist prayers, and the thought of my grandma’s body in that oven was almost too much for me. I just didn’t want to think of her physical body being destroyed, becoming nothing. My uncle had the responsibility of flipping the switch to the oven, and when he did, I felt like something sharp was cutting into my heart.

It was such a depressing day, but the night ended on a good note, with the whole family playing in a Texas Hold ’Em poker tournament. Although I lost my ten bucks, I had so much fun.

For a couple hours that night, I forgot all about my grandma and her death. For a couple hours only, I was just enjoying spending time with the people I love.

I didn’t realize before how much I missed everyone.

About family, Uncle Carlos said it best: "We only get together for births and deaths. We never see each other in between. There’s something backwards about that."