Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Death ceremony - it's a cultural thing

It may sound morbid, but in my culture it is considered a celebration. Growing up I participated in numerous ceremonies marking the anniversary of close relatives death days. They were always elaborate affairs, and the house was perfumed with musty incense for hours afterwards.



We observed my grandfather's day of passing on Sunday at my aunt's place. The dishes prepared were bountiful, and we poured tea and burned joss sticks amongst 2 of my grandfather's brothers' family.







I took the obligatory group shot of the family (with Kien refusing to get in amongst the crowd).



I don't participate in many of these types of ceremonies any more due to our busy lives not being conducive to organised gatherings (and usually having to coincide with my parents' crazy work schedule). I try to make it along when I can, purely for the remembrance of the people I adored.






4 comments:

LatteJunkie said...

I like the idea of celebrating/remembering with pizazz the passing of loved ones. I am so glad you managed to get to it.

Michelle MacWhirter said...

What a great cultural tradition. Better than getting into a miserable funk on the day.

The food looks so yum!

I like all the different expressions on everyone's faces. Some of your family look quite nervous or unsure, and the younger ones look pretty relaxed and happy.

Lea White said...

What a neat idea! What a great tradition your family has!

Jessica said...

"lovely" sounds a bit wrong in the context maybe, but I can only agree with what the others have written.
What a healthy approach to death and remembrance for children to grow up with! Its so bad how the western world pretty much denies death. How do we talk about death to our kids? I know I'm for one is really scared of death and I dont want my child to be too.

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