Mike wrote --

Back a generation or two in my family I think that was more common that
being at a funeral home.

When people lived on farms mostly the loved ones were also buried on the property.
My old family home there were many buried near the house.
When the old homestead was sold many years ago the new owners, who could
care less, took the tombstones and broke them up to use as gravel in a drive way!
There is now no idea who is buried where there. :(
It one lived in/near a town there would be a common burial area, either
at a church or some plot near town.
It wasn't until the early 19th C our idea of a funeral home/cemetery came into being.
Each culture has their own ways of dealing with death and the death.
And in times of epidemics mass graves were common.

I have seen photos of relatives laid out that were taken in living rooms.

In addition many times the guest of honour would be photographed in life
like poses, since the only photo ever taken of them. This was esp. true
with children.

IIRC, some families had a tradition of someone
actually sitting with the body at all times, even at night.

That's an ancient tradition, many centuries old. This is two-fold. One
out of respect and the other to make sure the person wasn't just in some
sort of coma and not buried alive.
Joe
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Back a generation or two in my family I think that was more common that being at a funeral home.

When people lived on farms mostly the loved ones were also buried on the property.
My old family home there were many buried near the house.
When the old homestead was sold many years ago the new owners, who could care less, took the tombstones and broke them up to use as gravel in a drive way!
There is now no idea who is buried where there. :(

We have an old family cemetary which has switched hands. Most of the gravestones are no longer legible, but my great-great-great grandfather's
still was last time I was there. He was a Methodist preacher, so the UMC
had made him a nice headstone at some point.

In recent years, the farm changed hands again. The little cemetary was separated from the rest of the farm by an extra fence. The fellow took it
down and started moving the headstones. Luckily, a family member who is in that area & who still tends to it caught him. In Kentucky, that is
actually illegal, even if it is on your property. The guy had already been warned at least once, so he got fined.

Supposedly, he tried to play dumb but the family member pointed out that it
was obviously being tended to since the grass was cut.

Since that grandfather's father's grave has long since been lost (we think
it is under a small strip mall in Pike County, KY), keeping that cemetary
from being forgotten is somewhat important.

Mike

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Joe,

That's an ancient tradition, many centuries old. This is two-fold. One
out of respect and the other to make sure the person wasn't just in some JM>sort of coma and not buried alive.

Of course, there are some who joke that they should play "Pop Goes The Weasel", and see if the casket lid will open, and the deceased will resurrect...and obviously make everyone nervous.

But as Christian comedian Mark Lowery noted, "When the dead are
raised, the funeral is over". :P

Sad to say, it's a shame that's where you see most of your friends and
family any more...at funerals.

Daryl

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