It was a Sunday morning. I stomped sleepily down the stairs, as I was still half asleep. My mom and dad were whispering quietly at the kitchen table, which was weird because my parents were usually still asleep. My parents stopped talking and gazed at me as I entered the room. My dad looked grief-stricken. “Your grandmother died last night”, my dad whispered. I wasn’t very surprised. None of us really were. She had been in a nursing home for a while, and had been mentally degenerating for a long time.
That night, my parents, little brother, and I, drove to my grandpa’s house where we visited with my aunt, uncle, other uncle, and cousins, as well as a few close family friends. We ate dinner, and we talked for a while, and then drove home.
On Monday, we drove to the temple where we spoke with the rabbi who would be conducting the funeral. He asked questions about my grandma in order to have material to give a eulogy. Afterward, my dad drove to my grandpa’s house with my uncle, who is my dad’s brother, while at the same time my mom drove
my brother and I home.
The funeral was on Tuesday. We met at my grandpa’s house, and from there we took cars to the funeral home. There, the rabbi delivered a brief but, in my opinion, a well-written eulogy. From the funeral home, we got back in the cars and drove to the cemetery, where the rabbi spoke again, and everyone left and went to my grandpa’s house.
From the cemetery, we drove back to my grandpa’s house for lunch, and during that time, friends of my grandma and grandpa stopped by. Everyone was sad. The sadness was a wave that had washed over everyone. I was very sad about the passing away of my grandma, and couldn’t speak when people came up to me, people I didn’t even know, and would say “Sorry about your grandma”. But it felt comforting to see all of the people who had shown up to offer their condolences. It felt nice that our family and friends were all there to comfort each other. We stayed pretty much all day Tuesday, and that night we looked at some of my grandpa’s old slides of my dad’s side of the family. It was a sad, but also a happy feeling.
I think that it is very nice to be able to be with other people, who are also saddened over something important, like the loss of someone special. I think that it feels comforting to be with friends and family when feeling sad over something. Family and friends are important. This I believe.