Funerals and Family Weirdness

Yesterday, I attended my Uncle's interment ceremony. It was a sad family occasion, yet it was weirdly happy too. I had a chance to see cousins of my dad and uncle whom I've not seen for years.

Why is it always during the luncheon after a funeral where people dig out the camera and take pictures. Going through scrapbooks, I have more family group shots taken after funerals than any other kind of occasion.

It was good to see my own cousins, their wives and kids and my aunt. But I have a question...when did eulogies become more about a church than about the life of the deceased? Did I miss that change in trend somewhere? At both the funeral in April and the memorial service in July, the focus of the eulogy, if you can call it that, was on religious message instead of the life of my uncle. Now, I've rationalized that this may be because my uncle was a minister. So a minister's life is going to be about the church and religion. However, his wife and kids were barely mentioned at either service. It just struck me as a little weird. But, to each their own. We all choose to be remembered in our own way.

This kind of thing makes me think about my own life and how I'd like to be remembered. Who might show up for my funeral...if any body. Stuff like that. Morbid. I think I'm turning into my family. Next thing you know, I'll buy a burial plot, lay out my stone, have my name inscribed, and to top it off-have my picture taken with the stone. If I do, just shoot me. Please?