Read the following scenario and post your first response in the discussion, then respond to one or more post:

"Benigno Bulosan is dead. Having suffered from emphysema for the last ten years, he died in his sleep at the age of 86. Benigno and his wife, Patria, did not discuss burial plans. Patria asks her oldest son, Ferdinand, to make the necessary arrangements with the cemetery. Ferdinand knows that his father would want to be grieved and buried as his father before him was in the Philippines. A big feast is planned. Patria serves as treasurer, collecting money from relatives so that there will be sufficient funds for the embalming, burial, and food. One of Bulosan daughters is responsible for going to the store to select the food, and a cousin is assigned to be in charge of the cooking. Benigno's body is to stay in the home for three days. The bottom half of the coffin is wood, with the upper half having a glass cover. As relatives and friends view the body, they refrain from crying. Visitors bring flowers and light candles. A picture of Benigno has been placed on top of his coffin. Nobody touches the body. During the three days in which the body is at home, the family is to do no cleaning, and they do not leave the room to say goodbye to guests. older friends and relatives strongly discourage pregnant women from participating in the three-day visitation or the funeral so as not to bring harm to their babies or complicate their deliveries. On the day of the funeral, the parish priest offers a Mass at the home. Family and friends accompany Benigno's coffin to the church, where another Mass is given. Many participants cry at the loss of Benigno, but the older relatives take care not to allow any of their tears to get on the coffin's glass cover, for that would impede Benigno's entry into heaven" (p. 187).

Fried, S. B. & Mehrotra, C. M. (1998). Aging and diversity: An active learning experience. Washington, D.C.: Taylor & Francis.

CONSIDER:

• As you reflect upon the funeral of Benigno Bulosan, consider the importance of farewells and the fie stages of grief as you write your reflection.