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Note: I am point this in sightings as it seems the most appropriate place. Please move it if it belongs somewhere else.
I don't like going to funerals and even though this even happened ten years ago this month it still gets me worked up. Growing up I had only even known one grandfather as my material grandmother had gotten a divorce in 1950's after her husband had cheated on her. It was a nasty affair that is still not spoken about to this day and I never meet him.
The only grandfather I had ever know had a heart attack on the evening of father's day (which is the first Sunday in September in Australia) and never recovered. I live in Darwin and my parents and grandparents live in Alice Springs, 1500KM away. My first regret was not heading straight down to Alice Springs. I flew in on the afternoon before the funeral and in the mean time my older sister had managed to have an argument with my grandmother other the arrangements. If I had been there I could have stopped it.
My father has 5 brothers & sisters and were original from Melbourne in Victoria. A lot of family was flying in to Alice Springs. My parent's house was full, so I was staying at hotel with some of cousins. The plan was for a bus to pick up those without a car from my parent's house for the funeral. When I got to my parent's place, I discovered that some of my Aunties decided to get my older sister to apologise to our grandmother. Unfortunately my sister apologises by point out why you are wrong. So I had to go and defuse a tense situation before the funeral.
We have the service at my grandfather's church and the funeral procession then headed to the cemetery which is about 10 km out of Alice Springs. There was a long line of cars with the hearse and my parents car leading. About half way to the cemetery a local council vehicle waves down the procession and talks with funeral director, my parents and my grandmother. After about 5 minutes the procession gets under way and arrives at the cemetery. It turns out the local council believed that the funeral was on Thursday and not Tuesday as planned, so they had not dug the grave. There were a lot of very unhappy people at this point.
It was decided to have the grave side service and return to town for the planned refreshments while the grave was dug. The funeral director and priest who stayed with the body then called us to return for the lowering ceremony. We all returned to the cemetery, except for my mother and grandmother who dislike the lowering. Due to the hasty nature of grave digging, the lowering gear had not been set up properly. As the coffin was lowered it made a horrible disturbing moaning sound. This upset a lot of the family.
This funeral occurred on September 11th 2001 and due to time zone differences it was our late evening when the jets were crashed into the twin towers. The airline that I flew to Alice Springs on went broke and stopped flying the next day and I had to find another way back to Darwin.
I don't like going to funerals and even though this even happened ten years ago this month it still gets me worked up. Growing up I had only even known one grandfather as my material grandmother had gotten a divorce in 1950's after her husband had cheated on her. It was a nasty affair that is still not spoken about to this day and I never meet him.
The only grandfather I had ever know had a heart attack on the evening of father's day (which is the first Sunday in September in Australia) and never recovered. I live in Darwin and my parents and grandparents live in Alice Springs, 1500KM away. My first regret was not heading straight down to Alice Springs. I flew in on the afternoon before the funeral and in the mean time my older sister had managed to have an argument with my grandmother other the arrangements. If I had been there I could have stopped it.
My father has 5 brothers & sisters and were original from Melbourne in Victoria. A lot of family was flying in to Alice Springs. My parent's house was full, so I was staying at hotel with some of cousins. The plan was for a bus to pick up those without a car from my parent's house for the funeral. When I got to my parent's place, I discovered that some of my Aunties decided to get my older sister to apologise to our grandmother. Unfortunately my sister apologises by point out why you are wrong. So I had to go and defuse a tense situation before the funeral.
We have the service at my grandfather's church and the funeral procession then headed to the cemetery which is about 10 km out of Alice Springs. There was a long line of cars with the hearse and my parents car leading. About half way to the cemetery a local council vehicle waves down the procession and talks with funeral director, my parents and my grandmother. After about 5 minutes the procession gets under way and arrives at the cemetery. It turns out the local council believed that the funeral was on Thursday and not Tuesday as planned, so they had not dug the grave. There were a lot of very unhappy people at this point.
It was decided to have the grave side service and return to town for the planned refreshments while the grave was dug. The funeral director and priest who stayed with the body then called us to return for the lowering ceremony. We all returned to the cemetery, except for my mother and grandmother who dislike the lowering. Due to the hasty nature of grave digging, the lowering gear had not been set up properly. As the coffin was lowered it made a horrible disturbing moaning sound. This upset a lot of the family.
This funeral occurred on September 11th 2001 and due to time zone differences it was our late evening when the jets were crashed into the twin towers. The airline that I flew to Alice Springs on went broke and stopped flying the next day and I had to find another way back to Darwin.
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