This is a good, funny and touching story by Jennifer over at Conversion Diary about going to a wake a few days ago.

Yesterday I found myself alone in a room with the body of a deceased person.

My husband’s grandfather passed away this weekend after a long illness, and we went to the funeral yesterday. We arrived at the funeral home an hour early, and I went inside to use the restroom while my husband gave the kids some snacks in the car. As I walked through the lobby to the restroom near the little nondenominational chapel, I realized there was nobody else in the building. It was completely silent.

As I walked back toward the lobby, I saw someone in the next room. I was startled to realize it was my husband’s grandfather, lying in an open casket in the viewing room. I hadn’t expected there to be a viewing, and I only met him a couple times, but it felt somehow rude to just walk by. So I crept into the room and stood next to the white coffin for a moment. Everything was so still. My breathing was the only motion, the only sound in the whole building.

Read the rest. It’s worth it!