What Had Happened Still Seemed Implausible. A

Many Americans Don't Mourn In Public Anymore - We Don't Wear Black, We Don't Beat Our Chests And Wail.

We Have An Idea - A Very Modern Idea - That Dying Is Undignified. But I Think This Is Because We Have The Illusion That We Can Control Our Bodies And Our Fates.

Time Doesn’t Obey Our Commands. You Cannot Make It Holy Just Because It Is Disappearing.

I Envy My Jewish Friends The Ritual Of Saying Kaddish - A Ritual That Seems Perfectly Conceived, With Its Built-in Support Group And Its Ceremonious Designation Of Time Each Day Devoted To Remembering The Lost Person.

Funerals Cost So Much Money, And Are Likely To Be An Additional Source Of Stress In This Recession - It's Sad That We Don't Have A More Humane, Less Commercialized Way To Approach Burial.