Obituaries here vary, b/c local daily paper charges for anything more than basic announcement -- which is mainly just giving the time of service. I know dh was very particular about dfil's, and we proofread it (repeatedly!), had ds, ddil, dbil, dmil, etc... ALL read it... said it was good. Then, immediately when it came out in the paper, we realized we had forgotten to include his position as retired bank director. Really, it probably didn't matter to anyone else in the world, but we tried to correct it in the more local weekly paper, but they ignored my e-mail. We also neglected to thank doctors & nurses & home caregivers, which lots of people do in our local obituaries... but we sorta did that on purpose. Dfil had quite a variety of caregivers, some of whom made less than perfect impressions on dmil, but whom we would definitely have wanted to thank. So we thought it better to just omit them all.
Dh's aunt's obituary was published and stated that she & her husband had been married
seven years.
The next day, it was corrected to read
seventy-one years. I'm sure that was a relief to her seventy-year old children!
For the reasons y'all have mentioned, though, I agree it IS important to have correct information in obituaries. I also share
OKay's concern re: hurt feelings and misunderstandings that might be caused by the sort of "selective" information in her dfriend's obituary.
DS mentioned, when we were sorta grumbling over dfil's and the lack of correction in the second paper -- "I would hate to have to be in charge of that part of the paper. The information isn't important to anyone except that family, but it's the most important thing in the world to them -- and you have a new set of facts every day. In the great scheme of things, it probably doesn't matter nearly as much as the front page stories, but to those people, it matters sooo much more."
Thinking about regional differences -- how many of you generally attend funerals where the body is open for viewing throughout the funeral itself? Ddil was surprised that here, the casket is closed before the service begins. I think maybe, when I was a child, I attended a funeral with the casket remaining open, but normally, here we have a 2-hour viewing/visitation period, (sometimes the night before, sometimes the day of) -- but at the funeral itself, if it is an "open casket" the body lies "in state" (Is that correct to say for an ordinary civilian?) -- maybe an hour before the service, but then the family steps out and the casket is closed. Then the family returns, together, and is seated for the service.
At one of my dgmother's funerals, however, my grandfather asked for a final viewing period for the family, and rather than exiting before the others in the congregation at the end of the funeral, the family waited until last and took one last moment for good-byes, I guess. I thought it was a bit too emotional, but if it was my grandfather's wish, I guess that was all that mattered.
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Shifting gears, I am sooo glad to have SPRING BREAK this week!!! * * * HAPPY DANCE * * * HAPPY DANCE * * *
We celebrated by going to see The Three Stooges tonight. It was... well, about what you'd expect.
We liked it, but some of the slapstick lasted a wee bit long for my enjoyment. The Stooges are definitely an acquired taste.
I am now doing laundry in preparation for the ironing lady tomorrow.
I have slept just about every moment that I have been seated or lying down over the past 48 hours, and I am beginning to feel like a human being again. However, my allergies are still driving me crazy. Not so much sneezing and sniffling, which IS an improvement -- but my nose is ITCHING me like CRAZY. I'd like to set a habit of walking every day this week, but I don't know if I'll brave the elements (freshly cut grass) in the morning or not. I suspect that is the major offender in my troubles this weekend.
I do NOT like the trash situation you are being forced to deal with,
Indiana... but I shall respect your decision to choose your battles. * sigh * This is NOT a good way to deal with clients in a retirement village. I would like to come up there and just give them a piece of my mind. I guess y'all are thinking it is good I cannot do so... probably don't have enough pieces to spare many... but (((BIG HUGS,
INDIANA))).
Sorry the school situation is not so great for your dd/dgs,
OKay.
Personally, although I have always been a strong proponent for public education, I am beginning to have my own doubts.
As an employee of public education, of course, I have supported the premise, largely on the theory that we have to learn to get along with all types of people, and the earlier we learn that, the better.
However, since No Child Left Behind became the battle cry of education, the mood in our country apparently seems to be that we do not want any child to suffer ANY bad feelings of ANY kind. This seems to be creating a school environment that holds No Child Accountable and No Child Responsible -- for ANYTHING.
I've told y'all about the NO ZERO policy at our school. The principal has finally seen that this is a miserable failure with some students, and if they are determined to fail -- and be left behind -- then perhaps that is what we should allow them to do. Maybe a few sessions of summer school will give them time to mature enough to develop some sense of responsibility.
The thing is, and the students know this, summer school now amounts to nothing more than multiple choice tests on computer lessons, and it sounds like it is pretty easy to make a 60.
These are the kinds of things that make ME ready to retire. I really see my job as being just as much about teaching responsibility and holding students to certain standards as it is about teaching nouns and pronouns, you know? And if The Powers That Be are not backing teachers up on these kinds of things, then it becomes very frustrating indeed.
Oh my... I bet y'all liked it better when I was too tired to post. I'll get off this soapbox and go check on the one in the laundry room now.
I am now stepping of the soap box with you and heading for bed. Tomorrow begins our week of standardized testing. Three phone calls have gone out tonight from my school reminding parents to put their kids to bed early and make sure that they have a good breakfast in the morning. Our school provides free breakfast for every student this week. But what I want is COFFEE