Dawn of the Pop

Before we left Cleveland for my parents house, I sat the girls down and explained what would be happening so they could know what to expect, and also so I could answer any questions they might have. I told them that Grandaddy had died, and that he had gone to heaven. But he left his body here, and it was up to us to take care of it. So when they saw him at the funeral home he would be in a wooden box.

Lily said "I know, that's called a coffin!"

Yes, I agreed. Then I said that we'd be able to see him and say goodbye, then the coffin would get closed. The coffin would then be taken to a cemetery where we'd put it in a big hole in the ground and cover it with dirt.

Lily said "Oh! Then he gets to turn into a zombie!"

I tried not to laugh, and said that no, Grandaddy would not turn into a zombie. Then she says "I know what you find in wooden boxes - mummies! They're wrapped in toilet paper you know."

I told her that mummies were wrapped in strips of fabric that just look like toilet paper, and that grandaddy would not turn into anything when we buried him. He would just be Grandaddy.

The whole time Macey just looked at me and didn't say a word. However, a few days later at the viewing Macey was very interested in Grandaddy's body. She kept going up to the casket and looking at him very closely. The first time she said to me "Wake him up." I said "I can't sweetie. Remember he died and his soul went to heaven, and this is his body that we have to take care of." "Oh." said Macey.

I told her she could touch him if she wanted to, and she patted him on the chest a few times. Then she said "I don't want to touch his hands." I said she didn't have to.

She went up and patted Pop many times during the viewing, usually by herself but sometimes one of the relatives would go up with her. She was always very quiet and respectful, and it was all at once cute and sad when she patted him and would wave goodbye.

Lily went up once in the very beginning to see him, but the rest of the time she seemed nervous and didn't want to look at him. He looked pretty good, I guess, not scary at all. I just wonder if she was worried that he'd suddenly sit up and try to eat her brain.