The ex-president's funeral is today here in Seoul. This last week will have it's own chapter in Korean history books for hundreds of years to come, what with this death, and with NK blowing up its nuclear weapon as well as renouncing its armistance treaties about military buildup.

Anyway,

The ex-president's death got me thinking about just how awkward a funeral would be if the deceased killed him or herself. I've been to 5 or 6 funerals in my life, and when it came to the people who lived fully and died old (my paternal grandmother for example), the atmosphere did have in it a combination of sorrow and happy reminiscence. There is a certain sense of celebration; the little jokes came more easily and the tears felt more natural.

The one funeral I went to where the person died at a younger age and by her own doing was a different affair. It was like it was the wrong time to have a funeral, almost as though she was still alive. Such is the same feeling at a funeral where the deceased has been taken by an illness at a young age, say, before retiring or walking a daughter down the aisle. I'm really crossing my fingers hoping that I'll be one of the lucky folks who "die of old age." I don't know what that exactly means medically, but it's what I want!

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