The Puneral

 

Sadly, my Aunt Shan (or Mimi as the kids called her) passed away last week, so we had visitation and the funeral to go to this weekend. The morning she died, I tried my best to explain it to Livy... you know, on a 3 year old's level.

"Livy, I have kind of some sad news."

"What?"

"Well, do you remember Mimi?"

"Yea."

"She died last night. So she's in Heaven now with God and Jesus."

"Oh... I didn't know that!"

"Yea, it's kind of sad, but we can also be happy because now she's in Heaven! Right?"

"Right!"

That was about as far as our conversation went. We debated whether or not to take Livy with us to the visitation, but I figured as long as she didn't see the casket, it would be fine. I just knew after our conversation about how Mimi was in Heaven, she would be extremely confused if she saw her lying in the casket. So we stayed in a separate room and Livy did great. She played a little with her cousin Jillian and was well-behaved. 

The next day, I told her we had to go back to the funeral home for the actual funeral. I was about to explain that it would be kind of like church... how we have to sit still and be quiet... when she broke out into song...

"Yay! We get to go to the puneral again!"

Drew and I just looked at each other, trying not to laugh, and hoping she wouldn't sing that lovely song at the puneral. 

Thankfully, she didn't! She sat through the service like a big girl, and once it was over they started dismissing everyone to walk by the casket to say one more last goodbye. I had avoided letting her see Mimi, but there was really no way around it this time. We had to walk by her. We tried to go fast, but sure enough, as soon as we got outside she asked,

"Why was Mimi sleeping in there?"

So then I had to try to explain it in more detail... this really is a difficult concept for little ones to grasp. 

"Well, when we die, our bodies stay here and it looks like we're sleeping, but our spirits go to Heaven to be with God and Jesus. So it looks like Mimi's sleeping, but she's really in Heaven."

"So, she's alive like Jesus?"

"Yes, baby. Just like Jesus."

Then came the graveside service. As soon as we pulled into the cemetery, Livy was concerned about why some of the flowers were knocked over, why some of the graves were missing flowers, why there were rectangles on the ground, why there were crosses out there... so many questions! The service was very short, and after it was over she begged us to let her pick up some of the flowers that the wind had blown over. We said our goodbyes to the family and got back in the truck. When we started to leave, she said,

"That puneral suurrre was fun!"

Good grief! The innocence of a 3 year old! Hopefully, we won't have another puneral to go to for a very long time!