Amen...
The last word at the funeral was the first word I remember hearing.
I have no recollection of how I got there. I was standing on the grass, under a summer sun, with a hundred other mourners facing an impressive arrangement of red roses. A green carpet camouflaged brown earth: brass rails framed that rectangular hole in the ground. The assembled throng quietly walked by — one by one — threw a handful of dirt on the coffin, crossed themselves... and solemnly nodded to the family.
I turned my head to grasp my surroundings and smiled.
In the distance droned the metallic song of truck tires as they rolled rhythmically along a hot asphalt highway... then echoed through that vast hillside cemetery.
As an older woman approached, she stumbled on the fake-grass carpet and might have tumbled into that hole had it not been for three sets of arms that quickly corrected her misstep. My brother caught my eye as he muffled a gasp. I bit my tongue to stifle a laugh.
People paused, shook my hand, and offered condolences. I had no idea why... nor who was in that mahogany box, but it certainly was polished to an aesthetic and stunning shine.
The lump beneath the bandage on my forehead throbbed incessantly. I needed a fucking drink.
... i don't think they were laughing...
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9 comments
The impulse to Laugh Out Loud can be Pretty Embarrassing in some situations.
Without a doubt.😲
Yes I have stifled laughter fairly often. Many people do not have any sense of humor.
Hugs!!
So how did you get the head boo boo?
True... many don't. 😂
Boo Boo?
Probably while trying to come up with a better ending to this post... ?
Ya can't win 'em all, can ya?
Yes, well, sometimes I've had fits of laughter in inappropriate places and situations. The worst are those fits where you laugh at your own laugh and there's no way to stop, is an "self-excited" process. That happened more when I was younger; now I guess I've become more serious... or more boring.
NO... you haven't become mature, and serious, have you? 😂
@Paulxx001 Mature? Yes. Serious?.... No
You have an interesting, dare I say twisted, way about bringing up a topic. Keeps me entertained and coming back for sure. As for laughing in the wrong place, not sure I've really done that once I was out of grade school. 🙃 Although, I do like your interview story. Now...laughing uncontrollably all by myself without being able to catch enough breath to let anyone else in on the joke...happens more often than it really should. 🫢
It depended on who I was next to: oftentimes THEY provoked me — buggers. 😂
Laughing in the wrong spaces?
- Deathly-quiet libraries seemed to be a favorite place for my buddies to provoke a laugh out of everyone. We got the evil eye and "shushed..." regularly.
- Of course, there was that time when the bride tripped over her dress and took a header into the priest's open arms.
- And I won't forget the keynote speaker at my daughter's graduation ceremony... falling off the podium.
- But one that sticks was during a job interview with a bunch of "suits" who kept trying to impress upon me what a professional environment I was stepping into. When the CEO spilled his coffee, drenched the conference-room table, his papers, and everyone sitting around — I lost it. I didn't get the job. Just as well: nobody there had a sense of humor.
On an impossibly hot and humid day, I let my imagination run away on its own. It led me to a strange "dead end." Or was this... an invitation for greater clarity?
Minds are funny places: mine (and perhaps yours), houses thoughts that should NEVER be encouraged by too much coffee — or other combustibles. 😂
"My lover's got humour, she's the giggle at a funeral"
A crack in the script where something more honest leaks through.
And that "dead end" doesn’t feel accidental. It feels like the point where the illusion runs out and there’s nothing left to hide behind.
Or perhaps you were slightly concussed?
@4playlist_Sugswt
Hmm... Interesting points of view.
All have merit: some are valid.
One is probably right.?
@Paulxx001
Very Interesting.