/karen/

Farewell to the dead

Thursday, 26 August, 2004

Yesterday was the funeral and it was a strange day. I went into work at 8, having decided not to lie and pretend I was sick in order to get sick leave to go to this funeral, which meant, instead, that I have to use up some of my store of flexi-time (I'd been saving it for our holiday to Coolum in October). One of the cleaners let me in to the office since I didn't have a key. Everyone else started rolling in at about 8:30 or so. An hour later, the lights started flickering and going out. I kept working since my monitor had light and everything I do is on computer anyway. Then the computers went. A couple of phone calls by my supervisor uncovered the fact that the blackout did not just involve the entire campus but also Mangerton and other surrounding areas. Because it would obviously take them a while to get the power back on, my supervisor told me to go home so I rang home and got Ben out of bed again to take me home. (And now I don't know what to do about my flex.) We left for the funeral at 11 and listened to the Baby Animals all the way up to Sydney. Woronora Cemetary and Crematorium was still the same, except for a very prominent sign that said, “NO LEARNER DRIVERS”. We parked near the south chapel where all my relatives were congregated, all dressed tastefully in black. There was a bunch of people I didn't really know. I got re-introduced to my stepmother's brother and his wife (bother, I've forgotten her name already) and also to this young man from China who hadn't known Auntie Rosa at all but his father was friends of the family and so he was obliged to come. I felt a bit sorry for him; he was dressed casually and looked out of place compared to everyone else. Ben and I started talking to him and he told us that he was studying Commerce at UTS. The funeral before us was running late so we were all waiting outside. White Lady Funerals were handling Auntie Rosa's funeral so there were about four ladies in white suits and maroon hats wandering around. (I found out later that White Lady are probably the most expensive in the business.) It struck me as being rather strange that they should get women to do the funeral stuff as, between the four of them, they seemed to be struggling a bit to carry the coffin inside the chapel. We filed in after them and sat in the wooden pews. A woman from the local Catholic church who I had never seen before was conducting the proceedings. She read out a whole bunch of prayers and Bible verses which all seemed to assume that Auntie Rosa was a Christian. She also sprinkeld holy water on the coffin and got immediate family to place white carnations on the coffin (my stepmother wanted me, Ben and my brother to do it too). “Amazing Grace” was played on the tape deck, the curtains closed on the coffin going into the crematorium and we were ushered out into the bright sunlight. People didn't hang around very long—soon enough, cars were moving off to go to the Imperial Peking for lunch. Ben and I stopped by my mother's to drop off some books. Unexpectedly she was home so we stayed a bit to talk to her before going to the restaurant. There were three tables full of people at the Imperial Peking and we had a very full lunch of chicken, fish, stir-friend vegetables, prawns, deep-fried lamb cutlets and I can't remember what else. Ben and I left at 2 to go to staff meeting. We thought we would have to return at 6 pm that night for a dinner but it turns out that my father had meant Friday when he SMS-ed me but he hadn't specified the date so naturally I had thought Wednesday. Oh well.

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