Granny’s Last Laugh

CONTENT WARNING: Dead Body (At a funeral, in a casket)

Recently, my grandmother died. Several weeks later, her funeral was organised. For us, it is a thirteen-hour drive from our town to hers. We drove nine hours the first day, slept at my aunt’s, and then drove the remaining hours the next morning.

The wake took place the next morning before the religious ceremony. Just before the lunch break, my aunt and mother requested we take some last pictures with her. At one point, [Aunt] requested a picture of herself and her siblings with our granny. I took some photographs.

Aunt: ”Do we look good?”

I replied without thinking.

Me: ”You all look alive.”

They were in front of Granny’s casket, and you could see her in the background of every photo. I was mortified, but they laughed at me. I explained that sometimes people would pose awkwardly for pictures and look like zombies with frozen expressions.

The next day, we travelled to my brother’s home about six hours away to spend the night. We were preparing the evening meal when we related the picture-taking incident.

Oldest Niece: *Matter-of-factly* ”Well… they all died laughing, then.”

The laughter took a long while to stop. My sister-in-law just looked exasperated. Like father, like daughter, weird humour included.