Death And Family

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Using your own cultural background, describe how your family of origin views the process of death. • How does your family grieve or mourn for an older relative who has died? If you have never experienced this, how do you think they would deal with the death of an older relative? • Based on this unit's readings and other resources you are able to locate, what similarities and differences are you able to identify between how your family copes with death and how other cultures cope? Take the time to also identify general themes that occur in several cultures' approaches to dealing with death and dying. Death is a sure event that will happen to all of us in life, it is a subject that many dread to tackle for it signifies an end to life, and end to things. In fact, in many cultures, it is a forbidden discussion. African-Americans or the Black minority however embrace death as a part of the life process, with death traditions, customs, procedures, mourning practices & burial rites given great attention. Growing up in my family I have witnessed many times the body is kept for up to a week before the funeral and burial occurs. This is the mourning period where relatives, family, friends come to view the body to pay their respects and offer condolences to the family. This is known as a wake; it is usually held in a huge enough hall (funeral parlor, church, home of the deceased) to accommodate all family members as it is a time of gathering. Music is played, food is served, stories are told, old histories are remembered - the deceased's life is generally celebrated through a retelling of it - his/her achievements, his/her endearments, his/her mistakes, his/her adventures and how much the deceased is missed and loved. This is also when the viewing days of the deceased body is announced to the public. After all this, a funeral takes place. It starts with a procession. The
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