easysurfer
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 11, 2008
- Messages
- 13,177
I got invited to a mass memorial for a parent of someone I went to grade school with.
This wasn't a personal invite but more like an announcement in a social media chain I belong to with about a dozen classmates from grade school.
As for the person I went to school with, I really haven't kept in touch at all except a recent funeral mass I went to for another classmate, this person was nice enough to walk up to me in reintroduce himself and later said he was very happy that I attended that funeral mass. I've never met his parent who passed away.
After reading some of the condolences on the social media chain, I'd say from about 8 people, I get the inkling that 2 will not attend. The other 6, I can't say one way or another. If I go and others don't, I don't want to feel like a fish out of water not really knowing anybody there except that one classmate. If I don't go, hope that doesn't appear rude not going.
A couple more factors that come to mind is if I go, hope that doesn't start a precedent and expectation of going to funerals, mass memorials of all the other classmates relatives. That can be like a full time job as more and more people around my age are dying. Another factor is, the mass memorial is bright and early in the morning. I'm barely out of bed by that time .
As I weigh the thoughts back and forth, I think if things were reversed. If a relative of mine passed away, I wouldn't expect former grade school classmates to attend as for the most part, I haven't kept in touch much (except occasionally now and that social media chain).
This wasn't a personal invite but more like an announcement in a social media chain I belong to with about a dozen classmates from grade school.
As for the person I went to school with, I really haven't kept in touch at all except a recent funeral mass I went to for another classmate, this person was nice enough to walk up to me in reintroduce himself and later said he was very happy that I attended that funeral mass. I've never met his parent who passed away.
After reading some of the condolences on the social media chain, I'd say from about 8 people, I get the inkling that 2 will not attend. The other 6, I can't say one way or another. If I go and others don't, I don't want to feel like a fish out of water not really knowing anybody there except that one classmate. If I don't go, hope that doesn't appear rude not going.
A couple more factors that come to mind is if I go, hope that doesn't start a precedent and expectation of going to funerals, mass memorials of all the other classmates relatives. That can be like a full time job as more and more people around my age are dying. Another factor is, the mass memorial is bright and early in the morning. I'm barely out of bed by that time .
As I weigh the thoughts back and forth, I think if things were reversed. If a relative of mine passed away, I wouldn't expect former grade school classmates to attend as for the most part, I haven't kept in touch much (except occasionally now and that social media chain).