As she walked into the funeral home, all Amanda could notice was tear stained faces, the costumes of black on the people, which symbolizes the somber time ahead, and how hushed everyone was being. It was the funeral of Amanda’s brother, Jacob Flowers, who had passed in a horrific car accident involving a drunk driver. The funeral home was getting to be only standing room because Jacob was acquainted with so many people, and had affected many lives in unique ways. Jacob had passed at the young age of eighteen, with so much life ahead of him. Amanda stood back and watched the events of the funeral, as they unfolded before her eyes.
Jacob Flowers was driving late one humid, shadowy summer night in the middle of June, when a drunk driver hit his vehicle. Jacob drove a red, 2010 Ford Mustang with little to no scratches on it, and only about five thousand miles on it. The forty year old inebriated man was driving a blue, monstrous, 2011 Ford Super Duty with tons of dents and scratches on it. Jacob was leaving his nieces softball game, when he got hit by the forty year old intoxicated driver on the highway. Jacob was pronounced dead at the hospital, while the intoxicated driver was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
The funeral was arranged to start at ten in the morning and the clock read nine fifty, so the rest of the people coming to the service had ten minutes until the memorial was to start. The funeral home was filling up rapidly and there were only about twenty seats left, and many more people expected to arrive. As soon as the clock struck nine fifty-five, about one hundred additional people walked in looking sullen, somber, and gloomy because their friend or a family member was going to be laid to rest. Only about ...
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...d her family could not control the tears. The casket was made out of a beautiful, sparkly, and black marble material. When they were finished, laying the casket down into the earth the pope said please all join us at the reception hall for some lunch.
The reception hall owned by the pope was a scenic mansion on the other side of town, but even though the hall was on the other side of town, it was not difficult to get too. When the people that attended the burial site arrived at the mansion, servers served the sandwiches and drinks for lunch. Amanda had a choice of a turkey Swiss sandwich or a ham Swiss sandwich with a sweet tea, un-sweet tea, or lemonade. Amanda chose a turkey Swiss sandwich with a sweet tea, and she said the food was amazingly delicious. As the people finished eating and were ready to leave, they said good bye to the family of Jacob and left.
She had been in New York for quite some time, doing well in school and with a brand new best friend. When she returned to her grandparents, she nurtured her grandpa in his last moments, and when he had taken his last breath a little bit of Jacqueline had slipped away as well. It isn’t that she hadn’t cherished the time with her grandfather, but as if his death was too sudden, and when she had started to really find her way in New York and South Carolina began to fade into a memory, the news was a wake up call.
At lunch the children are rowdy and need to be calmed down. The father says, "Maybe we could try a little quiet today." The girl replies, "You sound like your tombstone. Remember what you wanted it to say?" Her brother joins in by saying, "Today will be a quiet day. Because it never is around us." (Hempel 1204). Shortly after completing their meal, the girl asks about her dog. "Did anyone remember to feed him?" she asks (Hempel 1205). The boy again brings death into the picture by saying that he forgot to feed the dog and then proceeds to remind her about her previous dog. She was told the dog was taken to a sheep farm where, in reality, the dog was put to sleep. Naturally, the girl began to cry.
She closed her eyes slowly, tuning the harpies out. When she opened them, she gazed up at the ceiling, tracing the high, arcing beams that came together in a beautiful golden rosette. The church her mother-in-law had chosen for her departed son’s service was an old one, with timber walls, huge, multi-paneled stained-glass windows and enough golden gild that put together, could probably rival the weight of the Charging Bull on Wall Street.
Her ability to use incredibly graphic details poetically just enhance the experience for the reader. Her car ride is a solemn one, and readers are introduced to the disturbances inside of the car as well as outside. Olds is able to express to readers the issues her father has with drinking while associating it to the death outside of the car as well. She is able to bring readers into the dark car with her, witnessing the wreckage, the cars strewn over the highway, and most importantly the body of the woman. While the accident wasn’t any fault of the car she is riding in, she is up front with readers how her father is not quite sober, and just missed hitting someone himself. Olds is able to use the graphic imagery of the accident and the somber interior of the car to express the family struggles she endured as well. Sheltered by her mother from the scene outside, she is left reflecting on the life that is represented on the road. Readers can feel the dark turn of her thoughts as she compares the carnage on the road as “…glass, bone, metal, flesh, and the family” (Olds). It is this ending in which Olds allows readers to understand the complexity of feelings that were associated with the accident on the dark rain covered highway. Reflecting on the
Juan Diego immediately journeyed to the palace of the bishop to present the Lady’s request, but was unable to speak with him. Upon returning to the hill the next day, the Blessed Mother appeared again to Juan, and instructed him to return to the bishop. This time the bishop instructed Juan Diego...
About 4 years ago Johnathan was in a tragic car accident due to drinking and driving. He fell asleep at the wheel and drove his car underneath a parked 18 wheeler on the side of the highway. Johnathan not only put himself in danger, but also a friend of his that was passed out in the backseat. This caused Johnathan to have to have massive facial reconstructive surgery. Johnathan’s friend suffered minor injuries since he was lying down.
In conclusion, the tenuous relationship Sethe shared with her mother led to Sethe’s inability to provide for her children. Consequentially, the murder of Beloved built an emotional barrier that added to the preexisting issue of concerning her stolen milk left Denver with too little milk and the primitive drive to live that at first seemed foiled by her mother’s overbearing past. Yet, against all odds Denver was able to break her family’s legacy of being engulfed in the past and began taking steps for a better future.
Amanda was a woman who lives in a world of fantasy and reality. In the past memory and the future of the fantasy made Amanda very strong, but in the face of reality she was fragile. Just like Tom used to explain “I give you truth in the
It was a village on a hill, all joyous and fun where there was a meadow full of blossomed flowers. The folks there walked with humble smiles and greeted everyone they passed. The smell of baked bread and ginger took over the market. At the playing grounds the children ran around, flipped and did tricks. Mama would sing and Alice would hum. Papa went to work but was always home just in time to grab John for dinner. But Alice’s friend by the port soon fell ill, almost like weeds of a garden that takes over, all around her went unwell. Grave yards soon became over populated and overwhelmed with corpse.
... I had never even seen most of the food displayed, I eagerly and respectfully tried each dish. After everyone in the room sat down at the massive table, the Rabbi picked up a glass of wine and made a prayer over it. Then, Rabbi Kanelsky passed around pieces of Challah bread to the entire table. This lunch festival was yet another ceremony dedicated to one of the member’s deceased relative. At the conclusion, the Rabbi said another prayer out loud for the deceased and the relative expressed his gratitude to everyone.
Big Mama's Funeral Gabriel García Márquez story, Big Mama's Funeral, is a story filled with fantastical scenes and events, much in line with Don Quixote and Candide. The introductory paragraphs of Big Mama's Funeral and Candide sound so similar in voice the two authors could be mistaken for the same. In Candide, one finds a series of episodes that are so far from the truth and yet perfectly explainable. The story of the fate of Dr. Pangloss, the death and resurrection of Cunegund and of her Jesuit brother, and the story of the old woman with one buttock are farcical in the same way as the episodes in Big Mama's Funeral.
The disposition of the dead is facilitated in variety of ways because people have died at all points in history and the living have always mourned the dearth of loved ones with some type of ceremony. The way a person is buried is sometimes the deceased person’s wishes as stated in a will or legal document or it could be the decision of the family. But most times once you are dead others can do with your body as they wish.
During the dark hours, my grandfather was walking the streets in El Monte, California. It never crossed his mind that during that night his life would flash before his eyes. He was at a crosswalk where he pressed the button to cross the street. Once the cross light switched for him to cross, he did. He took his first step off the sidewalk and began walking. My grandfather did not realize what was to come once he stepped off the sidewalk. A car approached going over the speed limit. The person in the car was under the influence and ran a red light. It was then that my grandfather was hit by a drunk driver. My grandfather passed away at the sight of the scene. The young adult that hit him was taken into custody and put on trial for my grandfather’s death. If it wasn’t for the drunk driver who ran the red light that night my grandfather would still be alive today. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Today there are
On June 2011, three teenage boys were killed in a car accident near Raleigh, North Carolina. Sixteen-year-old Austin Flowers was driving along with his friends Lane Meyer, sixteen-year-old and Matt Speight, seventeen-year-old after a church event Sunday night. WBTV News reported that the driver, Austin Flowers was driving 129 mph. Austin lost control over the speed and crashed into a tree. All three boys attended Wake Forest-Rolesville High School. Matt Speight was set to graduate and would have turned eighteen that week. The funeral for all three boys was held in Raleigh area (“3 NC Teens...” ).
In the process of reading chapter two, I immediately thought back two years ago. I had the worst Stressor. I've had in my only 16 years of living. My great grandmother, who I lived with along with my mother, my whole life. She passed from stomach cancer. September 14 2013, I remember getting out of the shower with a smile on my face, and my grandmother casually walking in and said "Granny died at 2:34 this morning. I'm going to Chicago and I'll come back the day before the funeral. " My family works in the funeral industry but we do not own a funeral home and we have never buried such a close family member of ours. With my Step father and my mother losing their minds, and my little sister not knowing how to process this and my aunt just down right disappearing, I had to handle this. I was 14 at the time and I was calling on older friends to take me to the bank, finishing arrangements, picking clothes, doing the memorial video and the catering because none of my family offered to cook. I was panicking and literally running from place to place because I was trying to get things done. I was eating more and sleeping less, and from