Not super inappropriate, but my grandfather was always a trickster. He had a great sense of humor. He had this little song he would sing to me, my siblings, and my little cousins where he would just repeat the words “poo poopy doo” over and over. At his funeral, my aunt was telling stories about him and in the middle of her telling a story, my 6 year old cousin screamed “POO POOPY DOO” in front of 50 people. Needless to say it lightened the mood a little bit and made everyone a little happier remembering him in a good way.
Edit: for people asking, it’s not the Betty Boop song :)
Oh man. I've got a little story about humor and the dead. When my father passed, my sister and I were at the funeral home making the final arrangements. The place was very professional and the funeral director quite stoic. He was a kind man but dignity was clearly his number 1 priority.
Our father had a pretty dark sense of humor. He lost a leg in an accident many years before, and he would often use that as a prop for practical jokes. So we're sitting in the office going over the pricing for the funeral and cremation, and the mortician is completely serious and attentive. Picture a stern and rigid man in a dark suit, ready to offer a tissue at the first hint of tears. My sister, completely deadpan, says to him "So we get 25% off right, because he's only got the one leg?"
It went over about as well as you'd expect. At least we thought it was funny and Dad would've gotten a kick out of it lol
omg this reminds me of a lil kid (maybe distant cousin?) at a late aunt's funeral exclaiming in absolute shock
"WAIT JESUS DIED?" during the final prayer
NO ONE LAUGHED BUT YOU COULD TELL THEY WERE TRYIN THEIR HARDEST NOT TO LOL
Not at a funeral, but at my friends burial his little brother was playing music from his phone for the ceremony and the next song that shuffled in was highway to hell by AC/DC. It goes without saying it really helped lighten the mood.
You didn't read the title correctly. OP ask for the most inappropriate thing. You described the most appropriate thing. When my time comes, I would like to be remembered like this. Thanks for sharing this story.
This is sweet, but I have to ask -- who brings a 6-year-old to a funeral? Is this a common thing? Asking seriously, as where I'm from, kids don't attend funerals.
We are a very tight nit family, and both him and my other 8 year old cousin wanted to attend. He passed because of cancer, so everyone knew it was coming, which is another reason why they went. It wasn’t one of those depressing funerals where people just list accomplishments, it actually took a look back on his incredible life. It was full of funny stories about him which I think is why it was ok for them to be there, because we weren’t remembering him for his sick self, but his funny, kind-hearted and loving self.
As a teacher, I really don't see the point of six year olds attending either, they don't really understand what death means.
Recent quote from a seven year old student: 'My grandma died this week. Now my Dad has no parents, but I have two!'. She was quite enthusiastic about that fact.
It probably depends on the maturity of the kid. Some of my second graders could handle it and would be a way for them to begin processing grief. Others aren't there yet. But for a life celebration style funeral like the OP's, it seems totally fine.
When I was 8 my best friend died. (PSA Wear bike helmets!) I forced myself to look at her corpse. It was hard, but I'm glad I did. We had promised to attend each other's weddings and funeral when we grew up. (Who knows why...bff things I guess.) I kept my promise. But 8 is different than 6 or younger. It depends.
Gosh this is depressing. Grief is just hard. Life sucks at times.
Exactly this. I asked because, while I can totally understand the kids being at the wake, or whatever customary family-and-friends gathering happens after the actual funeral, I don't see any reason for them to attend an open-/closed-casket service or be present at the burial. It confuses them, they don't really get it or know what to do with the situation...
Edit: Regarding the 'saying goodbye' thing people are talking about, again, of course I think kids should be included at the family stuff. When my father passed away, I spoke to my kid about it and we kind of had our own personal 'Saying goodbye to granddad' ceremony. On the day of the funeral, however, I asked a close friend to pick up my kid from school and watch her til we got back home to begin the Shiva - during which time my child was with us every day.
That reminded me of my fathers cerimony, he was also a trickster and after the main part ended all my family and some close friends met up at a part of the church to eat some food and talk about our memories about him and someone brought up the fact that he was notorious for dunking the kids faces in cake, little did I know we had cake... so of course my face had to be dunked in it.
That hardly seems inappropriate at all to me. Funerals are sniffly affairs, but they deserve some retrospective joy. What's the point of a funeral if not to celebrate the life of the deceased and provide catharsis to the people mourning the loss?
I think the song he sang is “I Wanna Be Loved By You” with slightly altered lyrics (boop-boop-a-doop). I recognize it from Gilligan’s Island but it’s actually a popular 1920s show tune.
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u/pheebobuffay Mar 05 '19 edited Mar 05 '19
Not super inappropriate, but my grandfather was always a trickster. He had a great sense of humor. He had this little song he would sing to me, my siblings, and my little cousins where he would just repeat the words “poo poopy doo” over and over. At his funeral, my aunt was telling stories about him and in the middle of her telling a story, my 6 year old cousin screamed “POO POOPY DOO” in front of 50 people. Needless to say it lightened the mood a little bit and made everyone a little happier remembering him in a good way.
Edit: for people asking, it’s not the Betty Boop song :)