Customs and Cultures

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Well... what a week... A lot can happen in a week... and even more in the blink of an eye... Sadly... a very good friend of mine died last week... quite unexpectedly.... and along with dealing with that.... we had to deal with The Spanish way of doing things... which is buriel or cremation as soon as possible... usually  just 2 days .., the celebrant, who was helping us with the  service, said she had a phone call one morning at 8.30,  to arrange to meet the family of the deceased later that same morning,  for a funeral service at 3pm that same day... I don't know what it's like in the states..., but, in the uk,  there is quite a delay,  between death and buriel or cremation ... at least a week or 10 days, sometimes even longer... I think it's a bit rushed myself... it's  a custom left over from "the old" days... pre- refrigeration ... Spain is a very hot and humid country, even in winter ... so I understand the problem of storage.... but... times have changed...  we have the technology, so I think this could be reflected in their policy... On the other hand... when my mum died years ago.. in the UK,  we had to wait 15 days for her funeral... it seemed to prolong the feeling of " being in  limbo" . So now I'm  not sure which is best... it seemed sooo quick... like you've hardly had time to take it in... yet with my mum... it was too long...I remember thinking it was like loosing her a second time...  It is what it is...,  as a friend of mine often says.