Hello there. Hope you're feeling well.
Yesterday the wife sent me a text whilst I was on the early shift at work to say that somebody I knew had died. I won't go into any of the details here, except to say that it wasn't because of Corona.
Because of Corona though it's unclear whether there will be a funeral. It will depend I suspect on the situation when that person's body becomes available. For the moment if it's limited to a small group of people then I won't be included.
And I must admit I would be relieved.
This would not be because this person and I didn't like each other. We got on fine. Similarly I don't in any way consider myself superior. Nothing could be further from the truth.
No the simple reason is that we were peripheral to each other's lives. In the film of the person's life I would be low amongst the cast list with a few lines just before the extras. I would quite simply feel a fraud, a notch above a funeral chaser.
Nonetheless if there is a funeral as per BC (Before Corona) then I will attend. For that is the Welsh way. No matter how slightly you know the deceased you go to their funeral to comfort the people, normally their relatives, that you know more.
It is a situation that's even more marked when there is no family or strong friendship with the deceased. I've known people go to funerals who they barely knew beyond saying hello to because they have a friend who is more closely affected. It's not to remember the dead but to be there for the living that's more important to them in these circumstances.
So in these times of Corona when we are already socially distant it would
seem that the Welsh way of dealing with death has become distant with it.
Which would be a pity.
Until the next time.
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