Tacky & embarassing funeral

by Gregor 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Gregor
    Gregor

    My dear old uncle was rather eccentric when it came to being tight with a nickel. He had plenty of money because he never spent it. Never bought anything 'new' - cars, clothes, tools, you name it. He also liked to check out the dumpsters behind stores, like he would find moldy cheese still in the package. He would rinse it with vinegar and eat it, etc.

    Once he found a box of 8 1/2 X 11 heavy paper in bright florescent colors, green, yellow, pink and so forth. On one side various words like SALE! or CLEARANCE! or SUPER VALUE! were printed in big black letters at the top so the store could write in the price, etc. with a heavy marker. This paper had never been written on.

    A very much loved older sister died and he was asked by the family to give the memorial service. The Hall was packed. Because the reading glasses he got at the second hand store didn't work very well he had to hold his notes up. I felt like crawling under my chair when, you guessed it, he had written his notes on the back of his florescent paper with the above words facing the audience.

  • serendipity
    serendipity

    I'm sorry for your embarrassment Gregor, but I do see the dark humor of this, given it happened at a funeral.

  • FlyingHighNow
    FlyingHighNow

    Now that's the stuff great movie scenes are made from. It's sad, but it's entertaining. I'd smile if someone did that at my funeral.

    When we entered the funeral home for Andy's grandmother Janice's funeral, she was dressed in a bright red, long sleeved, fully sequined shirt and a bright floral skirt with lots of red in it. I was crying, but I started smiling and then gently laughing. It was immediately apparent to me that that is why Janice picked that outfit. She knew it would make us all smile. The lady was kind, knowing, gutsy, accepting and filled with moxey. On the day of her last hurrah, she gave us a wonderful gift: one of a lasting impression of her wonderful, warm love and sense of humor. We don't have sad memories of that day, thanks to her thoughtfulness.

    Anything that gets people smiling through the tears and rain at a funeral can't be a bad thing.

  • Scully
    Scully

    How embarrassing for you.

    The irony was probably lost on every JW in the place though. After all, more often than not, their Funeral Services™ are nothing more than WTS Infomercials...

    If it were in a movie it would probably get some laughs too. "If you want to learn more about the Resurrection Hope™ and Living Forever™ in Paradise on Earth™, feel free to ask one of Jehovah's Witnesses™ for a Free™ Home Bible Study™... " (while holding up and reading from shocking flourescent pink paper that says FREE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST on the side facing the audience)

    BTW, did anyone in the congregation comment about it? What kinds of comments were made?

  • greendawn
    greendawn

    It's hard to believe that someone would go to the extremes you describe to save a little money when there is no real need to do so. In the end he made a full of himself.

  • Gregor
    Gregor

    Only our immediate family said anything about it amongst ourselves. We all got a giggle out of it later. Everyone in the cong. knew him and he was so well liked he was given a pass. He would do anything for anyone, especially older Bros and Sisters. He's 85 now and lives in Hawaii, he never really shunned me and I love him dearly.

  • ballistic
    ballistic

    As much as many of us were "damaged" by the witness experience TM , there are good souls there. My magazine route had a old couple who were from Australia living out their old years in a kind of sad way, drinking their homebrew... they loved the magazines, not to mention visits from me and me mum who I guess were the only people they ever saw...

    Anyhow, one day his wife died. They had no friends or contact with any church and he asked us if she could have a Jehovah's Witness funeral. yep, my magazine readers were hardly religious types at all, but that's what he wanted.

    So, my mother asked the local P.O. and out of the kindness of his heart he offered to do a service for her, though not at the kingdom hall, but at the crematorium. (and to be honest who wants a funeral in a stuffy meeting place with no windows or any semblance of character whatsoever)

    So thats what they did, and he refused to take any money for the service too when the old man reached in his pocket and produced a handfull of notes.

  • GentlyFeral
    GentlyFeral

    Hey, Scully,

    If it were in a movie it would probably get some laughs too. "If you want to learn more about the Resurrection Hope™ and Living Forever™ in Paradise on Earth™, feel free to ask one of Jehovah's Witnesses™ for a Free™ Home Bible Study™... " (while holding up and reading from shocking flourescent pink paper that says FREE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST on the side facing the audience)

    Gaaawd, I can so see Crispin Glover playing that part.

    gently feral

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