Personal Narrative: My First Funeral

On 09/12/2016, I Deputy Daniel Pruitt was dispatched to 52455 West Highway 16 for an unattended death compliant. I arrived on scene st 6:45pm and meet with Creek County EMS unit 40.

As a child, I knew nothing about loss. The closest think I had known about loss would be my dog dying a few years before. I was devastated and I cried forever, but it was nothing compared to when my brother died. The loss of my brother to suicide taught me more about life than I would have thought. I learned that death is different from when I was a kid than it is now, also how I cope with it and relearn about death each year that passes by.

The leather feels cold under my fingertips as I sit on our living room couch. My feet are propped up on the small coffee table, banging together lightly in boredom. Mom sits with me, our shoulders barely touching. It's only been twelve hours since I found Laura in the alley and the police already want to put us into protective custody. I don't want to go, but there is nothing tying me here anymore. Laura's gone.

A true friend is someone who is always by your side and appreciates who you really are. I am Liesel Memminger and I was fortunate enough to have Rudy Stiener as my best friend. He was kind and compassionate yet a Saukerl at the same time, a mixture only Rudy could accomplish, and I am here to share my personal experiences with him.

Death. The word itself is spine-chilling. The word is almost dripping with terrifying memories. The word reeks of sadness and teardrops. This word, death, seems like it is impossible to accept. Death is like a dark room that slowly gets smaller, eventually crushing you.

We are gathered here today to honor the life of Mrs. Cat, my mom. As the only daughter that she had, I am here to deliver the eulogy.

The one thing we must constantly remind ourselves is that death is not the end of our life. We cannot and we will not forfeit what beautiful and precious time we have left wallowing in the darkness of a life ending. I know that the pain is real and I know that sometimes the everything is just too loud and enormous and overwhelming. But we must carry on and we must endure and we must live without ever being held back.

What is death? Why do people die? How can learn to accept the fact that one day we will die? Death is something unexplainable. Everyone has a beginning and an end. Some people cope with death differently, through sadness, anger, and confusion. The death of a loved one hurts so much, words can’t explain the feeling. Although that pain is not physical some can say that emotional pain hurts as much as physical pain. Once a person dies it’s a chance for people to reflect on what they did while they were alive. How many people they helped or how friendly they were to people. On June 18, 2016, I experienced death for the first time. I was not very close to this person but he was someone who really impacted my life and my families. I just never realized how much he meant to us until that second Saturday of June.

Today I was joined by John (the ox) Entwistle one day after he was pronounced dead in the arms of a Las Vegas stripper from a cocaine overdose 2 days before The Who’s states tour: The bassist of the millennium was in room 658 of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Nevada. The stripper/groupie of the band Alycen Rowse found John cold when she woke up. We talked to him and discussed how he was feeling about his death and hopefully find out the story behind it.

I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of an ocean trying to reach the shore except I can't swim and every time I get to treading above water a wave comes and knocks me back under and I can't breathe yet again so I fight. I fight so damn hard but the harder I fight the more exhausted I become and I give up. I welcome death. I wait for the waves to carry me to a peaceful grave. To save me from this battle I am losing. But the worst part is this whole time I've been surrounded by people swimming. All of them telling me I'm just being lazy and maybe if I just tried harder I could swim. No one gives me their hand to pull me above the water. No one tosses me a life raft. Everyone just yells for me to swim but I don't know

Encountering the death and loss of a loved one is seemingly one of the most difficult things someone can go through. One starts to question everything they’ve ever known because they don’t know what to believe. In my case, I questioned whether or not God was real. My brother was 16 when he passed away due to a massive heart attack. I didn’t understand how God could be so unfair and take away one of the little things in my life that made me happy. I started to ask myself if Christianity was for me. At first I gave up interest every Sunday morning and Wednesday night. Soon enough my mom started to notice and she started drifting away from God as well. Eventually we just stopped going all in all. My brother’s death has definitely shaped me into

Losing somebody who cannot be substituted by another person is one of the hardest things that one can ever go through. I was overwhelmed by this, figuring out how to beat the greater part of the emotional troubles that I needed to confront. It all started when my aunt Amy passed away when I was a freshman in high school. It has been four years since my aunt had passed away, yet the memories of her still stays in my heart, where it will stay for eternity. Each time I go back to the Philippines and stroll into my grandparent’s home, her photos are there to help me remember one of the best aunts in my life.

Sitting in the pew waiting on family members to arrive I closed my eyes and started focusing on my senses. I could hear cries, laughter reminiscing of a past father friend uncle nephew grandfather cousin. Stories that covered 50+ years of life. I could smell, perfume cologne cigarettes alcohol sweat a hint of flowers and death . I can feel panic fear loneliness nervousness and lost souls . Opening my eyes I try to connect the person to the sound smell or touch. Motivation comes to mind why do we really come to funerals? To honor a loved one to heal a lost relationship to see who attended ? The preacher reflected on 40+ years ago going to school with the deceased and hinted on Christian characteristics that may have showed a possibility of him

Death is the final chapter of our story. Chapter 18 of our text describes it as a permanent break where our experiences come to an end; we leave family and friends behind as well as any unfinished business to enter the unknown. Although, I believe, as for Christians, death is when our life truly begins. Death, for me, means entering the glorious Kingdom and finally meeting my Maker. American contemporary Christian music band, MercyMe, wrote a song called I Can Only Imagine, which talks about ways we might act when coming face-to-face with Christ. When I think of dying, I think of the lyrics to this song.

My mother was an addict and abusive; both emotionally and physically. Growing up all together was a challenge in many ways and at times I felt I would never get through the tough times to the bright side of life. My grandmother helped me advance in