Several events come to mind.
Putting on Ah Ma's shoes...
For whatever stupid reason, the guys who were handling the funeral didn't put on Ah Ma's shoes when they laid her in the coffin. So Auntie Annie and I had to open the coffin and do it. I would lift up Ah Ma's leg, and Annie would slowly squeeze the foot into the shoe. Ah Ma's feet were so cold, so stiff...
Pre-cremation...
The cremation itself was a simple, solemn affair. The coffin was laid out, flowers all around. Warren read a simple, short sermon for the dead. Annie gave a very moving (and thankfully very short) piece on Ah Ma's legacy to us. Alwyn tried to say a few words but frankly, I couldn't make head or tail of what he was saying. It would have helped if he wasn't breaking down into tears every 2 words. :)
The actual burning...
You could see the wood slowly turn from a bright red-brown into progressively darker and darker shades. Then it finally turned black. A few minutes later, outside in the crematorium's parking lot, I saw a black column of smoke rising into the skies. Looks like Ah Ma caught her flight to heaven.
I wonder when I actually finally accepted that Ah Ma was dead and that she was never coming back. Maybe it was when I finally saw her resting in her coffin.
Funny... I never wondered if Ah Ma would feel the flames... I guessnot.
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