At the Funeral

At the Funeral

fiction
edward w pritchard

At the funeral Aunt Tillie sat with the minister and listened and nodded as he comforted her with seeing Jesus one day and soon seeing Uncle Mike again. When I stood with Aunt Tillie up by Uncle Mike's casket Aunt Tillie held my hand while we all walked by and said kind words to her. My religious Aunt, Aunt Florence, stopped and said a prayer with Aunt Tillie and I lowered my head and eyes as they prayed for Uncle Mike's safe passage to heaven.

At the cemetery I was confused by my Aunt Tillie's behavior as they lowered the casket into the ground. She broke down crying, somewhat hysterically I thought. I asked my Dad, me only eight then; I didn't understand. If we are Christians and really look forward to getting to heaven, why was aunt Tillie crying hysterically at the prospect of Uncle Mike being gone for good?. Dad didn't have time to explain so he squeezed my hand really hard and I knew it was something that wasn't discussed openly.