Monday, October 29, 2007

My Father's Funeral


FINALLY! I am so sorry. I did get home Sat., but MyOtaku was... well, we all know, lol.

1:16 PM, Saturday, Oct. 27. I'm back home.

My father's viewing was on Thursday and his his funeral was Friday. Both were very nice.

We got so lost on the way up there, because my stepdad wouldn't stop to ask directions.

He finally pulled into a parking lot an my uncle Wiatt, grinning, came and got us. We went to Celine's house. A lot of the family was there. I saw my cousin April, who's my age, but we're
so different we hardly ever got along much. She gave me a hug and asked if I was alright. I got
a lot of hugs as you can imagine, lol.

My aunts and uncles all sat at the dinner table along with my mom and stepdad, discussing
what to do and what I had to do. They joked about asking me if at the funeral I wanted to be on this thing that would swing me. XD

My 13 yr old cousin, Alex, who is kinda into anime was sitting on the couch reading her "Hibiki's Magic" manga. She kept showing
me all her favorite parts.

Before the viewing we had to go to the house so they could let me go through dad's room.

They let me know that all the stuff he owned was mine, anyway, so, I could take whatever
I wanted.

My dad has weird shit. XD

You'd think it'd make us sad to go through his
room, but we were so busy having a laugh at
all the crazy shit he owned, we couldn't be.

Anne, one of my aunts, was telling us how she
was in the other room while Wiatt was in dad's
room and all of a sudden she heard, "Boing,
boing, boing, boing!"

Wiatt had opened dad's closet and all his little
bouncy ball collection had spilled out and Wiatt
was trying to chase them all down! XD

I took all the bouncy balls and said that on my
dad's birthday, I'll release them all at once in
his honor, lol.

We found his hulla girl, leperchaun and hippie
costumes, weird hats (I did let uncle David get
the hot dog one, lol), some of his books which
included the ORIGINAL, hardback, signed ver.
of Memoirs of a Geisha and some Marine Corp.
books. I left some for my cousin, Nathan, cause
they said he'd adore any Marine-related books.

Also got his canes and posters, his vest, his
Korea jacket, Anne found his Japanese silk
pajamas for me along with the blanket he got
for being in Okinawa... All his Asian stuff they
dug up for me. Some of his movies... lots of
random stuff, all which made me smile.

He has so many canes, Wiatt joked, "You'd think the man was a cripple!" I got like 4 or
5 of them and there were so many left over,
Wiatt joked that each brother and sister could
have one and maybe some of the kids, lol.

At the viewing, I was allowed to dress in my
regular cloths. TRIPP pants and my hoodie.

Viewing was held at the Chattanooga Funeral
Home right across from their Catholic church.
We were in Palor A. He laid in his casket in
blue Marine uniform, the lid of the casket had
the Marine Corp symbol.

We all got a good chuckle at how hard they
tried to make his messy hair look decent,
yet still couldn't hide his cowlick, lol. But he
looked handsome, nonetheless.

They let me view him with family for as long
as I wanted before friends could. I kissed his
forehead... Good way to realize a person is
really dead. If felt like kissing an ice box. I
didn't touch his skin after that, just his hair.

I cried a lot. People would comfort me. Wiatt
made himself my tissue-man, again, lol. He'd
take my used tissues and get me new ones.

Joesph (these are my uncles, btw) said the best
sentiments. He didn't use any sugary words or
religious bullshit that I was so sick of hearing. He
just hugged me and said, "This fucking sucks."

Old ladies are depressing as fucking hell. They'd
all come up to me and stare at me with sad eyes
like they were trying to drain any happiness or
calm I'd found and were waiting for me to cry. I
liked it better when people came up to me and
would tell me how they knew my dad and then
would tell a funny story about him. It helped.

Lots of people would just come up to me and
stare for awhile before saying, "She looks just
like her dad." I heard a lot of comparisons to
my dad.

I went outside at one point, sat under a tree by
the road. I saw a long line of bikes pull in. They
were all from one of my dad's biker groups, The
Southern Cruisers.

There were also some Marines there. I found
out later a young man named Chad Love, a
Marine had died. He drowned. He was in the
Parlor G. I saw his name on the board beside
my dad's "Chad Love USMC". My dad's had
his sergent rank before his name.

His Marine Corp. friends who came by to see
him found out my dad was a Marine and they
came to pay their respects.

They'd run into my mom. She'd told them she
was his ex-wife. She said when they found out
he had a 19 yr old daughter (me), they kept on
saying, "I'm so sorry."

Mom said later at the motel, "The one thing
about Marines. They never forget about their
own." Mom said they wanted to talk to me,
but I was outside at the time.

That's why I get offended when people talk
down about Marines.

When Faye arrived, Celine ran up to me to let
me know. I gave Faye and her sister a hug. I
grew worried about Faye just seeing her. She
looked so empty nd depressed, like there was
hardly anything holding her up.

Her sister, Norma, told me she's mosty been
sleeping, which is what she does when she's
depressed. Norma both at the funeral and at
the viewing kept begging I keep in contact. I
promised I would, and I will.

Once Faye viewed his body, I let her see his
funny photo album that was beside his casket.
I wanted her to smile. The first picture you see
is my dad in a coconut bra and hulla skirt. How
can you not smile? lol.

Afterwords, I went up to her and said, "They
told me you never saw my dad in suspenders."
and with that, I pulled out the American flag
suspenders I saved just to give her. It got her
to smile and laugh a little. :)

Faye was just so crushing to watch. She broke
my heart when she mention how this Thanks-
giving, they planned to come and get me so I
could have spent my first Thanksgiving with my
dad and them.

When my mom mentioned how we were going to
leave early Saturday so I could go to a Halloween
party, I said, "Dad wouldn't want me to mop around."
I mosty said that to Faye, who I was on the floor,
she was in the chair beside me. It was me saying
to her, it's okay to be sad, but it's okay to be happy
too and my dad wouldn't want to see you like this.

Joesph was going around snapping pictures. He
went to take a picture of Faye and Norma's kids
looking at my dad's body and they posed all
cheesy, with tounges out and giving peace signs,
I chuckled and told them dad would have been
so proud of that, lol.

And because he was Catholic, there was this
long ass ceremony with the rosary beads. It
is basically the priest goes down each single
bead on the roseary necklace and chants The
Our Father:
Our Father, Who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.

And everytime he says that, everyone else
says the Hail Mary:
Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.

And they repeat this over and over until they
have gone through each bead. yes, it's very
repeatitive. When it ended, Joesph went to
the casket and started chanting, "A~men.
A~men." all the brothers and sisters joined.
Some looked on confused, Joesph smiled
and explained it was tradition. Yeah, they
did it every Thanksgiving after prayer.

There was a last viewing before the funeral on
the day of it. I was dressed up in a long black
skirt, boots that killed my poor feet and black
jacket. Everyone joked it was sad it took such
a tragedy to get me to look like a girl, lol.

The bikers all came in on their motorcycles. It
was such a site. Tom had 3 giant flags on the
back of his bike. An American one, a USMC
one and another. One of the guys joked, "I'm
riding infront of you; I don't want those flags
slapping me in the face." XD

Tom also showed us his new patch on his
vest. It said in memory of my father and he
told mom he'd send me one. <3

So many people honored my father as if
he were a celebrity. Ruby Falls, one of
the places he worked, lowered all their
flags to half-mass just for him.

I was able to stay calm, cool, proper... I did
start to tear up when I walked up to my dad's
casket and said, "Good-bye, Daddy."

We got in a limo and drove to the church right
across the street. I acted like a proper young
lady, hands infront of me, head either bowed
or held high. I had to walk behind the casket
and help 3 of my aunts drape the white sheet
with a silver cross with yellow, orange and
silver over dad's casket.

There was a small Asian boy carrying the
cross thing and blonde and brunette girls
behind him holding the candles, all three
in white robes. You've seen it on tv. The
priest shook water on the casket, sand a
song and we walked in.

I cried a lot. And I only had one tissue. I kid
not, after, I squeezed it 5 times and it was
just dripping water like a leaky faucet. o.O

All the eulegies told funny stories of my dad.
My dad made friends with every single person
he met and NO ONE who ever met him could
ever think of a bad thing to say about him. He
was outgoing, funny, nice, had a great sense
of humor, wondeful laugh and love for life. My
dad was someone truly to admire.

Some people would walk by me, like after
they'd gone up their for the priest to bless
them and recieve the body and blood of
Christ (bread and wine), they'd pat my
shoulder or hug me... my itty bitty cousin
Haley glomped me around the shoulders.
It was so sweet, I smiled through tears.

My aunts and uncles read parts from the
bible.

The day of the funeral also happened to be two
of my cousins birthdays. Sam and Mackenzie.

Sam wasn't there, even though his sister, Alex,
was. Mackenzie was there. I kept grabbing her,
giving her kisses on the cheek and wishing her
a happy birthday.

At the church, it was a beautiful Catholic funeral.
The Catholics are so morbid and dark, it's only
fitting they can do death so beautiful, lol.

I had to walk behind the casket

We drove to the cemetary and the sight was
pure amazing. Behind the hearst and limos
was a long trail of motorcycles, led by Tom.

We'd turn a corner and watch the motorcycles
pass and it seemed like the line of them would
never end.

He was burried in a military cemetary, just like
he wanted. Military funerals and cemetaries
are the best. They're so amazing and beautiful.

When we got there, we arrived at this little
concrete covered area with chairs and his
casket resting on a cement block.

I had to shake hands with one of the Marines,
a young black male, so that he could know I
was the one he handed the flag to.

I sat on the very end of the first row. For some
reason, when I see Marines, I'm able to stay
very composed, so, I was the only one there
not crying. XD

I had to say a lot of stupid shit in my head at
some points to keep from crying. XD Like in
my head I was going, "Shama-lama-ding-dong,
squirrles..." anything, lol.

The preacher talked some, two baby-faced
Marines stood right outside the covered area.
After, some bagpipe player played that song,
you know, the one people will sing when you
are about to face doom, lol. Uncle David said
dad didn't trip over their dad's grave, but must
have tripped the bapipe player up.

Right after, they did a 21 gun salute. Everyone
jumped, even my aunt who was watching and
ready, but not me. XD Mom jumped and laughed.
She whispered to me, "I forgot that part!"

After , the two Marines walked up to
the casket and in stiff motions removed the
American flag off his casket.

The black one held one in as the white one began
to fold it into the triangle. Poor guy. My family had
later mentioned how poorly he did it, but I saw
where he messed up and it's not easy. He tried.

After he folded it, the black Marine turned and
faced another white Marine. He held it up for
him as this guy would hit the flag three times
with a bullet, tucking it inside the flag, saying
at each one, "For God. For country. For honor."

Then, the black Marine turned on his heel and
walked up to me. I swallowed the lump in my
throat. I knew what was next and wanted to be
very proper.

He kneeled before me, presenting the flag and
looked me dead straight in the eyes and said,
"On behalf of the President of the United States,
the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a
grateful nation, please accept this flag as a symbol
of our appreciation for your loved one's service to
Country and Corps."

I was trying so hard not to cry, but this guy's
voice was so shakey as though he were going
to cry! I kept thinking in my head, "C'mon dude,
please hold up! I'm trying to hold up myself, so,
you have to, too!"

I smiled softly and nodded to him as he handed
the flag over to me and I held it in my lap.

They ended it by playing Kansas's "Dust in the
Wind", the song daddy always would tell me he
wanted played at his funeral. That's when I finally
broke down and cried, and of course, an uncle
was by my side, embracing my shoulder, lol.

But I laughed... Everyone said how they hated
that song, how cheesy it was... Yet they were
all singing along. Dad must have been laughing
his ass off at that, lol.

The Marines stuck around, because Chad Love's
funeral was the same day, too. I will always pay
my respects to him, too, because the Marines
were kind enough to do the same for my father.

After, people collected the flowers. I took one
rose, Marie gave me another and I ended up
collecting a whole, bright bouque, lol.

Norma asked again to stay in touch. I hugged
Faye and told her to please be strong. That
woman is so fragile, it's heartbreaking to even
look her in the face...

Then we drove back to the church for lunch. I
gave Mackenzie more hugs, kisses and birth-
day wishes... It must suck to have your birth-
day same day as a funeral... She's 9, now,
by the way. :3

The food was yummy. I sat at a table with
mom, my stepdad, David and his wife, and
the flag had its own seat beside me, lol.

My aunt Marine gave me another bullet. She
said it's tradition to hand them out to family.

We all told funny stories about my dad, David
explained the one he told at the funeral, about
how my dad accidently burned 80 acres, but
somehow it was still all David's fault, because
HE had the matches, lol.

His wife told me about their sons, Justin, I
know of. He's my cousin who is into anime
too and we'd fight like crazy until Tenchi
Muyo came on. XD

She said right now he's in service and in
Okinawa and that he goes to anime cons
in Maine as Miroku. That he once asked
girls to bear his children, got 80 yes, 30
no and his mom asked, "How many slapped
you?" XD

They later asked me my e-mail address so
that we could talk.

One of the funniest moments... My mom is
a HUGE Bama fan, the family are all Tenn-
essee fans. Uncle Ricky and mom will act
like kids fighting over it.

They used mom's Bama pen to pass around
as everyone was writing e-mails and addresses
down... Ricky wrote like 3 addresses, we
watched, snickering as we realized he had no
idea yet what he was writing with. When he
finally did, he hurled it acrossed the room and
screamed and our table errupted in laughs. XD

Back at our motel there was a Sci-fi convention
going on. Mom and I would run down the halls
to go to the vending machine with microwave
foods and would crack up.

Mom would try to shush me from making fun
of them, but I'd laugh, "What are they gonna
do? I'm an otaku. Our swords are bigger!"

I even made up a song for them: "Oh, to be
fat and 40 and a drunken pirate!" because
some were dressed as pirates, all were dead
drunk. I asked mom, "Pirates aren't sci-fi.
They existed. Aren't they suppose to be crap
like aliens?" XD

The funniest was I was getting a frozen pizza
and we hear: "Baby, baby... I'm drunk." and
this woman in short leather hot pants, a cape
coat and halter top and long brown hair comes
stumbling out, being held up by two men, one
who amusedly asks, "Are you talking to your
daughter?" (she was on her cell).
She replied, "No. I'm drunk. I wouldn't talk to
my daughter drunk." I was so close to pissing
myself laughing! XD

I played on mom's laptop a lot. Read fics or
played Gravitation or music videos. We got
home early so I could go to the Halloween
party... and that will be the next post.

(I'm sure I left out a lot, but this post is so
bloody long... not like I could help it. Hope
some of you read it all, anyway.)

Pictures of my Dad:















The guy beside him is Tom.




Poor reindeer. Looks like he rammed it up the ass with the bike! XD


<3


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