I don't have many family members who i can get a perspective from on the care of the dead. When it came down to interviewing the only one who was around was my grandma. I wasn't sure if i should ask her about the care of the dead since my great grandmother who passed away was her mother. My grandmother helped her a lot, she was the one who helped her the most despite the way that her mother would treat her.Not that it was terrible because everyone has a rocky relationship with their parents but my grandma did go through the most.
Interview With Grandma: Her Perspective, Word For Word!
Questions:
- How do you perceive death?
- What is the custom? Does our family follow it?
- What is the reasoning behind these customs in your perspective?
- What is a strength and weakness about death?
- Does our family pay respect to the dead in a certain way?
Answers:
- I like to see it as something pretty yet ugly. Its pretty because death can't distinguish, in other words it doesn't discriminate. It takes the rich, the poor, and people of all races. I see it ugly because it takes you with out your consent as well as your loved ones.
- The catholic custom consists of 3 parts: bringing the body home to stay up with it all night, a mass, and a funeral. Yes, we do. We actually are very good at paying respect to the dead.
- Reasoning behind bringing the body home: You stay up with the body all night because it's the last night with the person pushing up daisies. Reasoning behind church: Making a last mass is a custom for catholics because that is their religion and we help the person who is dead too be forgiven all of their sins. Also the family has to pray a rosary for 9 days. Reasoning behind the funeral: A funeral is given to the deceased person so that he/she can rest in peace. I think that we all go to heaven once we die. Also since god had a reincarnation i have a feeling we will all reincarnate one day. <---- DEEP!!
- A weakness from death is the pain that we suffer to see our beloved die, or leaving without wanting to. A strength is that the person will now rest in peace with god.
- Our family pays respect to the dead. During the day of the dead we make a shrine for our loved ones. We dedicate the whole day to them and turn on a candle/pray so that all of their sins are forgiven. Also, we take them flowers to their tombstone. It can be a day full of regrets for some because you don't know what you have until you have lost it. You will always think why you didn't do this or why did i say that?
WOAH! That was my first reaction. And my first thought was: "The older the wiser". I couldn't have picked a better to interview. When my grandmother was speaking i was touched and amazed by her insight on care of the dead.
Favorite Deep Quotes:
A Shocking Yet Understanding Reaction:
After i interviewed my grandmother i thought to myself whether i should try to interview about her mother or not. I decided to go for it because the i would at least know i tried asking. There i go: " Grandma, do you mind me asking about your mother?" Her Reaction: " No! No no no no no! Don't dare to ask me about my mother. That is a very sentimental experience and it's personal. No! I don't want to share. Is that it? Because i'm done. Go on." I was speechless i didn't know how to react so i apologized and walked out. She went from being super calm to a scary tone. Her hands were shaking and she looked very angry. I couldn't really sleep that night and i felt terrrible. :(
Favorite Deep Quotes:
- death can't distinguish, in other words it doesn't discriminate. It takes the rich, the poor, and people of all races. I see it ugly because it takes you with out your consent as well as your loved ones.
- A funeral is given to the deceased person so that he/she can rest in peace. I think that we all go to heaven once we die. Also since god had a reincarnation i have a feeling we will all reincarnate one day.
- It can be a day full of regrets for some because you don't know what you have until you have lost it. You will always think why you didn't do this or why did i say that?
A Shocking Yet Understanding Reaction:
After i interviewed my grandmother i thought to myself whether i should try to interview about her mother or not. I decided to go for it because the i would at least know i tried asking. There i go: " Grandma, do you mind me asking about your mother?" Her Reaction: " No! No no no no no! Don't dare to ask me about my mother. That is a very sentimental experience and it's personal. No! I don't want to share. Is that it? Because i'm done. Go on." I was speechless i didn't know how to react so i apologized and walked out. She went from being super calm to a scary tone. Her hands were shaking and she looked very angry. I couldn't really sleep that night and i felt terrrible. :(
i think that it was personally very smart to ask someone who is pretty old. (no offense). but i think they are one of the best people to ask for adivce and wisdom about a lot of topics. because i personally feel like they have a lot of personal experience with stuff and have a lot of knowledge. things have changed over the years so i think that they have seen those changes and could understand it better than us. so by going to your grandma, i think she had a lot of personal insights about the care of the dead. nice job.
ReplyDeleteAriel's Mentor
ReplyDeleteThe interview pertaining to death featuring the writer's grandmother brought upon varies emotions and cultural traditions. The step by step process involving the aftermath of death demonstrated to be a highlight within the interview. The justification presented by the grandmother concerning her mother's death appeared dubious without further interrogation. That being said, the quote pertaining to the equality of death without giving privilege to any particular race or financial stability of an individual demonstrated the comprehension of such a delicate topic by the interviewee. Furthermore, the organization of the interview was concise and lucid bringing about credit to the writer.
Ariel,
ReplyDeleteI found it very brave of you to have been able to write about such intimate information about you family. I feel that it is very empowering for you to be sharing your thoughts and being able to share your families at the same time. But I feel that you should talk to your grandmother more about topics in which she is uncomfortable about. I say this because I too have relatives that have had problems in the past with talking about passed family members. As well I feel that there is a good result that comes from discussing and opening up with your family about passed relatives and I have found it to be a great form of closure and a cure to the grief that some people let hang over them when they lose a loved one. But don't let my view feel pushed on to you I'm only giving you an idea of how to approach the issue and I in no way want you to feel like I'm pushing it on you. But regardless I like how you set up your post with the questions in one column and the answers in another, it was very easy for me to read through everything great post.
-Brendan.