Fond Memories of the Funeral Playground

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Originally uploaded by texasgawain

This is a photo of a cemetary.

My grandfather was a mortician.. so as a child I got to spend quite a bit of time playing at the funeral home in town. To a five year old... a funeral home can be a magical place. The landscaping, beautifully decorated rooms, antique furniture, flowers... everything that goes into making a beautiful place to comfort grieving families, and to display the dearly departed... also coincidentally make for a fantastic playground.

At the time I was unaware of the irony. Indeed, my father and his sisters grew up in an apartment over the same funeral home.. so 'living' so near to the business of death was an old and familiar irony for most of my family.

I accidentally wandered into a room where someone was being embalmed somewhere around age five as well. That was a bit of a shock.. but otherwise all my memories of the place my grandfather worked are pleasant, if not idyllic.

Twenty eight years later I returned.... to see my best friend before his burial the next day. You might suppose that such a traumatic event would overshadow the kinder memories of yesteryear. Far from it however... the familiar place, and its childhood associations helped me get through that night.

I don't like losing friends.. but I still love the Funeral Home.