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the grave, this ornate hardware and handles got stuck. The grave was not large enough to accommodate the overall dimensions of the vault. My friend said a man resembling the butler "Lurch" on "The Addams Family" emerged from the bushes with a crowbar and began prying the handles and hardware off the vault until it "gave" and finally slid down into the grave. She said the entire family couldn't help but laugh... it was at once horrible and hilarious... and a bit of irony that even in death, this domineering woman was, to some extent, refusing to go gently!

Other humorous touches are not as dramatic. In 1997, Howard "Rip" Collins, who had made a name for himself by catching a world record brown trout in the local river, passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. His final wishes included being displayed at the funeral home STANDING UPRIGHT, with his fishing gear around him. In our small town of just over 6,000 residents, this was big news! While I did not view Mr. Collins' body personally, I did see photos, and he not only had the last laugh, but he gave others a chuckle in the process.

Truly there was nothing humorous about my younger brother's death. It was a heartbreaking time for me. But he had such a vibrant personality and the ability to laugh in even difficult situations, so it was only fitting that there be a couple of humorous incidents when he passed away. Tim was a huge fan of the candy "Smarties." He loved them, and at the funeral home, we displayed a dish of them among some memorabilia that helped others see and remember who Tim was in life. It was our hope that even in death, Tim would share a "Smarties" with a friend and they would smile. One of his beloved Hospice aides took a couple of the candies and tucked them into my brother's shirt pocket, "so he would always have "Smarties." I was amused and touched at the same time.

The other incident involved my brother's dog. He was adamant that Carmen was to attend his funeral, so my parents complied and brought his black and white pit bull mix along. Carmen was a very loving dog... and a "licker." She loved to lick bare legs, hands, faces... any skin she could find available on the person she was near got licked. During the service, Carmen made a bee-line for a cousin sitting on the second row behind my parents. This man had lost his wife to cancer less than six months earlier. He was a dog lover, thankfully, but Carmen gravitated to Jim as if magnetized, and for the rest of the funeral, she licked

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