Item
Celebrating Life During Covid
Title (Dublin Core)
Celebrating Life During Covid
Disclaimer (Dublin Core)
DISCLAIMER: This item may have been submitted in response to a school assignment prompt. See Linked Data.
Description (Dublin Core)
The echoing silence is what stands out to me the most. Where there should have been “Taps” playing, blanks being fired in the air, and stories being told, there was nothing. On April 1, 2020, my grandfather passed away of natural causes. Under normal circumstances, my parents and I would have traveled up to Montana to attend his funeral. However, due to the fact that my father and I are immune-compromised, we were unable to attend. Even if we were able to make the trip, there was the possibility that we would not be able to attend the service. The funeral home only allowed ten people to be at the funeral, masked-up and socially distanced.
On the day of the funeral, April 6, 2020, my parents and I attended the funeral virtually. We were sitting in the car (my parents were at work) watching the funeral on a FaceTime call with my sister. The service was extremely short. The funeral home wanted to make the service as quick as possible to limit potential exposure. This meant there was no eulogy, no military honors (he was an Air Force veteran), and very little time for the sharing of stories of personal stories. Thus, the service was oddly quiet. Funerals are typically quiet, but this was something more. There were tears, but the tears were hallowed. A lot of the emotion involved with a funeral comes from the memories shared. These tears are not all sad tears. This is because a life is being celebrated, all the ups and downs. The tears at my grandfather’s funeral were all sadness. Sad tears sound different than happy tears. Happy tears are often associated with laughter, something lacking at this funeral. Another sound that was absent during my grandfather’s funeral was his military honors. Typically, at a funeral that involves a veteran, there are a few things happen: “Taps” is played, a rifle detail fires blanks into the air, and a burial flag is presented to the next of kin. My grandfather did not receive military honors at his funeral. Thus, these sounds were not present. My grandfather’s funeral was the closest thing to silent as can possibly be.
Covid prevented my grandfather from having the funeral he deserved. Fortunately, my family was able to give him a proper celebration of life in June 2020, which involved everything that had been missing at his funeral. The sounds of happy and sad tears were present, along with the sounds of full military honors. I am glad we were able to accomplish this, but to me, it felt different. The memories of his “silent” funeral were still engrained in my mind, causing me to have mixed emotions of sadness and anger that were not able to properly celebrate him at his funeral.
On the day of the funeral, April 6, 2020, my parents and I attended the funeral virtually. We were sitting in the car (my parents were at work) watching the funeral on a FaceTime call with my sister. The service was extremely short. The funeral home wanted to make the service as quick as possible to limit potential exposure. This meant there was no eulogy, no military honors (he was an Air Force veteran), and very little time for the sharing of stories of personal stories. Thus, the service was oddly quiet. Funerals are typically quiet, but this was something more. There were tears, but the tears were hallowed. A lot of the emotion involved with a funeral comes from the memories shared. These tears are not all sad tears. This is because a life is being celebrated, all the ups and downs. The tears at my grandfather’s funeral were all sadness. Sad tears sound different than happy tears. Happy tears are often associated with laughter, something lacking at this funeral. Another sound that was absent during my grandfather’s funeral was his military honors. Typically, at a funeral that involves a veteran, there are a few things happen: “Taps” is played, a rifle detail fires blanks into the air, and a burial flag is presented to the next of kin. My grandfather did not receive military honors at his funeral. Thus, these sounds were not present. My grandfather’s funeral was the closest thing to silent as can possibly be.
Covid prevented my grandfather from having the funeral he deserved. Fortunately, my family was able to give him a proper celebration of life in June 2020, which involved everything that had been missing at his funeral. The sounds of happy and sad tears were present, along with the sounds of full military honors. I am glad we were able to accomplish this, but to me, it felt different. The memories of his “silent” funeral were still engrained in my mind, causing me to have mixed emotions of sadness and anger that were not able to properly celebrate him at his funeral.
Date (Dublin Core)
Creator (Dublin Core)
Contributor (Dublin Core)
Event Identifier (Dublin Core)
Partner (Dublin Core)
Type (Dublin Core)
Photograph
Text story
Controlled Vocabulary (Dublin Core)
English
Emotion
Contributor's Tags (a true folksonomy) (Friend of a Friend)
Collection (Dublin Core)
Collecting Institution (Bibliographic Ontology)
Arizona State University
Linked Data (Dublin Core)
Date Submitted (Dublin Core)
07/05/2021
Date Modified (Dublin Core)
09/22/2021
06/26/2023
Item sets
This item was submitted on July 5, 2021 by John Frandsen using the form “Share Your Story” on the site “A Journal of the Plague Year”: http://www.covid-19archive.org/s/archive
Click here to view the collected data.