As it turns out, we had lunch with the couple, their kids, and the soon to be deceased man, on the afternoon immediately prior to his trip to the hospital.
What I've noticed in the past few months is that there are many ways of handling death and, like most things, not every way works for everyone else.
When I arrived at the house last night, two of the grandchildren, my contemporaries, made remarks along the lines of:
"well, once he had lunch with you guys, he decided that his life was complete"
or
"you guys were the cherry on the top of the cake that was his life."
And the father (who was the son in law of the deceased) remarked:
"thanks for joining us for the Last Supper."
I realize that not everyone appreciates this approach, but it works for me (and for them.)
In an interesting twist, my cousin in Dallas had Skyped me earlier in the day. We share the same initials, which coincidentally, are the same initials of our common grandfather.
"I don't think I ever told you that you are on my will. If I die before
you, you get our grandfather's cufflinks with his initials on them."
"Well, that's too bad, because until now, I've never actually thought about
rooting for you to die first, but I guess I have a reason."
He got the joke and laughed.
Then, we both discussed how our wives' families may not have seen the humor (or what we think is humor) in it.
You may call it crass or insensitive, but for a group out there, this approach works (particularly when it is not a tragic ending.)
Looking for a good term though...
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