Prompt 33

You know those words that are really hard to listen to, ones that you would never wish to hear if you could prevent it. "We are gathered here today to remember...", this is one of those phrases that bothers me because it is attached to something I hate to be a part of, a funeral. I mean they could be used in a positive way to start in describing a happy memory, a person dear to you, or to remember a certain celebratory event. However, when I think of them all that comes to mind is death and the loved one's that I have lost. Funerals are where I have heard these words the most and one seems to stick out the most. He was my dad's uncle; he owned a successful apple orchard, had three children, was one of the hardest workers I will ever know, and was happily married til the day he died. His funeral was a gathering to celebrate his long well-lived life after he had passed and it was a time to remember him during his best days before he grew ill. Although, there was a time for mourning during his funeral it is mostly a time to remember what type of person he was and to recall all the great things he had accomplished. We all wanted to send my great uncle Ray peacefully to the other side, to whatever was awaiting him on the other side. However, I think these words I'm speaking of are sad and depressing especially when hearing them at at a family members wake. Instead of immediately thinking of happier times in his life when I first hear it I think of how heartbreaking it is for such an amazing person to loose such a prosperous life. Death is something I fear and that I would never wish upon anyone especially one of my family members who was always so positive and so hard working til his very last day. I'd still much rather not have to speak about them as if they were departed and this is the reason why I find that phrase so hard to hear.

Losing someone for me is something I absolutely dread and I'm sure anyone would. I am terrified of death and what it brings. I've heard positive things and know all about Heaven and God and everything that supposedly waiting for me on the other side. However, the fact that nothing is certain scares me and I worry about the loved ones I've lost like Uncle Ray and where they are now. So, when I sat at that funeral and I heard that one little phrase it mustered up all these thoughts in my mind. I tried to and still try to stay positive and think of the perfect, wonderful life they are probably having now, despite the fact his and my future are uncertain after death. Wondering whether I'd ever see him again makes it all the more painful to remember him.