re: Anyone ever burst out laughing at a funeral?

Chuckles the Clown

quote:

---

The first funeral I attended was my grandmother's when I was 14 years old. At some point, I just started laughing when I should have been crying. I covered it as crying and my aunt consoled me. But talk about an unexpected reaction.

---

My cousin did this at my grandmother's funeral when we were kids. Had tears in his eyes, then just began belly laughing. He's always had a great, infectious laugh, so once he got going, I had to close my eyes and put my head down to control myself.

quote:

---

Chuckles the Clown

---

Upvote

About a year ago, one of my friends from college passed away, It was not unexpected, he had been fighting off cancer for years. About 2 months prior I had flown out to see him, it was unsaid, but I knew it would be the last time I saw him alive.

When he passed his wife and children waited a few months to have his memorial service, then I got a call and they asked me to do his eulogy, I was surprised because we were good friends, but because of distance, not really that close. His wife, daughter and son, said their dad loved my sense of humor, so I should feel free to be light.

I treated the eulogy as if it were a roast, he was a lawyer, so I had some lawyer jokes and stories about dating failures in college. Now his wife and kids loved it, but his brothers and living parent, not so much. The rest of the people were either aghast or laughing.

After the service they had a reception, the brother came up to tell me that his mother thought my eulogy was disrespectful and it upset her. I figured I better go apologize to his mother, after chatting for a bit she was good with it.

Wakes and funerals are a difficult social obligation for everyone. I hated going to them when I was young, but my parents drilled it into me how important it was to the family of the deceased. My parents both died when I was young, I remember how grateful I was to everyone of my friends who showed up. It really helps.

Grandpa lived a full life and died. Had a first cousin who had started going with the blacks in school so she did the full fallout when she saw his body. Our uncle and son of the deceased, kept leaning toward her like he wanted to help her up but then he’d move away. Did this several times. My aunt, mother to the fallen child, says “she’s in the floor yall”. I’m keeping it together until my brothers GF, who is probably mildly retarded, looks at us and says “it’s so hard for the family”.


At this point I was over it. I lost it.

I asked my uncle later why he kept acting like he wanted to help her up but wouldn’t. He said “son, I didn’t want to help her up. I wanted to squeeze the fricking life out of her”. I never heard it phrased that way.

That Mary Tylor Moore chuckles is the best!!!

A friend of mine was a pilot. He died in a plane crash. At the graveside service a plane is flying over spitting and sputtering. I couldn't help but laugh. His friends though it was funny. Family? Not so much.

From a British show, Coupling

Yup, my father's, when FOUR of his girlfriends got in line for the last viewing of the body. All in a row, I couldn't help but laugh. My step mother shot me a dirty look, didn't help.