The cremation (II)

My grandfather passed away more than 20 years ago. Weiqi is only 1 month old then, and this October she will be 21.  His wake then lasted 7 days, but I remember very little of it. The one thing that was etched deeply in my memory was the moment at the crematorium, when his coffin was pushed into the incinerator. It was the peak of emotion. It was final closure for me.

I was looking forward to Saturday after the 2 days of wake. The morning started well enough. But after the few days of hectic activities, patience finally ran thin, and aunt Cindy yelled at aunt YY.  WS did a good meditation job. A few things happened along the way, like I spilled a whole bottle of water on the admin table, so we had to move grandma table photo. We didn't secure the frame to the table, so it fell and the glass broke. Then there was the Muar grand aunt who got upset that she was not prompted to contribute to flower basket, so 2nd grand aunt in law got to go to the market to quickly get one for her.  

Finally the last ritual started after 1pm.  It turned out to be extremely ceremonious, and I dislike it.  

It is also at this point that I started crying. I had wanted to make fun Lynn, so I asked her if I can wipe my tears on her tshirt. To my surprise, my sweetie actually said ok without betting an eyelid. She must be quite at a loss as to how to comfort me. Another sweetie that afternoon is Weihui. She saw me crying, so she asked Lynn to give me a hug. I was touched, so instead of hugging Lynn, I extended my arms to solicite a hug from Weihui. She came up to hug me, then went to hug Wee San when I asked her to. 

Finally we were on our way to Mandai.  Unfortunately, this last part, which I had anticipated for so long, was totally wrecked by the funeral director who kept saying unnecessary stuff.  Life is full of regrets.  I can't send grandma to her cremation again.  But I guess it really doesn't matter to her at all. 

Still, it was closure for me again.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.