No one tells me anything.

This is a conversation that happened on Sunday night at 11:30 p.m.

Mom: Are you working tomorrow?

Me: No, I'm not.

Mom: Good. So then you're coming to the funeral with us?

Me: WHO DIED?!

Apparently my Auntie Louise died and no one told me. Until late the NIGHT BEFORE THE FUNERAL. Oh, and did I mention she died on Wednesday? That is almost an ENTIRE WEEK after the fact.

So I got to see my first dead body.

The next morning I entered the church with my family, and sawthe open casket in the distance. I quickly turned to my brother and said, "Oh God, I've never been to a wake before..." I'd only been to my grandfather's funeral, and my parents wouldn't let us kids go to the wake, which I have to say I'm thankful for. I wouldn't have wanted my last glimpse of my grandpa to be when he was dead. I like to remember him like he was when he was alive, not like how I'll probably remember Auntie Louise now. I mean, she was 92 years old, so it was probably her time to go, but it was still sad.

The day got slightly better when the der hayr went off on his crazy eulogy that made me make a face at my brother more than once during the ceremony, and the deacon's awesome heavy Worcester accent (like a Boston one) made us crack smiles we quickly tried to hide.

I don't know if you know this, but my family is loud. During the eulogy when the der hayr said something funny, my dad let out this staccato (and slightly delayed) "HA!" which made me and my entire immediate family look at him in alarm. Then Nishan and I tried not to laugh too hard. I mean, after all, we were at a funeral.

So after all this and the short ceremony at the cemetery, we went to a lovely luncheon served in an ice-cold church rec hall that was an event hall, a basketball court, and a theater all in one. And more of the loudness that is my family ensued. Because, you know, both of my dad's brothers were there too, not to mention all of the cousins on the Ovian side. I'm surprised no one lost their voice.

Ah, family functions. If we have this much fun at a funeral, you can only imagine what my graduation party will be like.