My daughter came into my bedroom a few Sundays ago to tell me that she had seen Gordon B. Hinckley's* funeral on TV at her best friend's house the previous day. She said to me that she had almost forgotten all about Gordon B. Hinckley. I asked her if anyone tried to talk to her about him, she said no. She said the funeral was WAY LONG and BORING. I asked, "How much of it did you watch? Did any of your friend's family cry?"
"My friend's older sister almost cried. Sheesh, it was hours long, Mom! But I did think of one thing that woulda been funny. There was this one part where it was silent on the TV for a reeeeaaaally long time. I sat there thinking how hilarious it'd be if someone in the congregation stood up and started sobbing really loud into the crowd like Buuuuuhhhh Huuhhhhhhhh Huuuuhhhhhhhh!" She stood up on my bed and acted all melodramatic when she did that.
She collapsed into giggles at her own humor and so did I. She's so damn funny! Just thinking about her little 10 year old voice trying to do deep sobbing like that makes me laugh out loud again now.
*He was the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until his death, considered by members of the church to be a prophet of God. I wanted to wait a bit before posting this so the sadness anyone felt for his death could be dealt with before humor was brought out about it.
8 comments:
I love it when kids crack themselves up and collapse into giggles and belly laughs. Heck*, I love it when anyone does it.
*Trying to swear less for Lent.
That is hilarious. I was actually watching a kickass Hallmark movie the night they kept interupting with "breaking news" about the fact that he had died. The first time it happened, my father and his wife burst into their own versions of emotional display (she openly sobbed; dad blinked his eyes real fast and scratched his head.)
My daughter, also ten like yours, looked at me and then at them and then back to me and leaned toward me and whispered, "Ummm... mom... did they know that guy?"
I forget that my daughter is not being bombarded with the religion so she doesn't get the "realness" of the situation for the TBMs. I was calm and sophisticated when I explained it to her then, but we both get a good belly laugh out of it now.
Wow, living outside of Morman Mecca I didn't realize his funeral was televised. I do remember hearing an announcement when he died, but I think it was on radio the next morning.
Funny. Kids so "get" what's going on.
Oddly enough, I was typing a blog post when they announced he died and had literally just typed "I can't wait until I don't have to hear every time Gordon Hinckley sneezes."
I immediately went and changed it to Mitt Romney. Same meaning, Utah media is full of this stuff, but it was no longer funny, just disrespectful.
Cele, oh yeah it was all over the TV and radio for days. I'd venture to say his death and the ensuing aftermath got the same amount of coverage as the death of a US President would get.
I tried to be polite and offer condolences to my mom and my remaining Mormon associates. They seemed to appreciate it. My close friend, J, didn't seem upset. Her reply was more "thanks, but he was 97 for crying out loud. He was really old and had a long good life."
I hadn't decided what to think about Hinkley. He did some good things, and also some bad things, IMHO. Not sure if one side outweighed the other, if the good & bad were pretty balanced, or what. I finally decided, whatever - he's dead now. It's really more a moot point now.
I love hearing my kids' jokes too. If only I could laugh like they do!
i love it when my kid makes me laugh half the time he doesn't know why i am laughing and that makes it funnier.
They showed the whole funeral on TV? Impressive. It's even more impressive that your daughter sat through it. Hinckley was a great guy, but I'm really not a fan of funerals.
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