Age
I was sixteen years old when my maternal grandmother died from COPD. At that time, I was a sophomore in high school. There had been deaths in the family prior to my grandmothers passing, however this was my first experience with a death of an immediate family member.
Location
My grandmother lived with my mother since I was a toddler, and she let the family know that she was afraid of dying alone in a hospital. I’m not sure whether or not my grandmother had a desire to die at the time of her death, but she was found off of her ventilator, away from her bed and on the dining room floor—lifeless—on October 5th, 2006.
Who was present
My grandmother was found dead by my mother. My mother had decided to go to the store around midnight, and when she came back, she heard the ventilator beeping from outside, ran into the home, and my grandmother was on the floor. My 14-year-old brother, 3-year-old sister, 3-year-old cousin, and 42-year-old uncle and I were asleep. We were all awakened by the screams from my mother: “Tony get up”, “Mommy is dead”. …show more content…
I don’t think that ethnicity plays a role in dealing with death. We have no special rituals or traditions in the black community. Although my family and I are African American, we have no cultural traditions either, we are pretty much Americanized and proceed with a funeral in order for the community to pay their respects. As far as the funeral, due to my grandmother’s religion, the funeral was held at a Christian church. The family does have traditions when it comes to the funeral service, but I believe that majority of Americans too have family members ride in limousines to and from the funeral in order to keep the family together. We sing on our way into the funeral, and we have the funeral home release doves at the burial site, due to a bible scripture. The family then comes together for a meal after the funeral, which is always a good
I was sixteen years old when my maternal grandmother died from COPD. At that time, I was a sophomore in high school. There had been deaths in the family prior to my grandmothers passing, however this was my first experience with a death of an immediate family member.
Location
My grandmother lived with my mother since I was a toddler, and she let the family know that she was afraid of dying alone in a hospital. I’m not sure whether or not my grandmother had a desire to die at the time of her death, but she was found off of her ventilator, away from her bed and on the dining room floor—lifeless—on October 5th, 2006.
Who was present
My grandmother was found dead by my mother. My mother had decided to go to the store around midnight, and when she came back, she heard the ventilator beeping from outside, ran into the home, and my grandmother was on the floor. My 14-year-old brother, 3-year-old sister, 3-year-old cousin, and 42-year-old uncle and I were asleep. We were all awakened by the screams from my mother: “Tony get up”, “Mommy is dead”. …show more content…
I don’t think that ethnicity plays a role in dealing with death. We have no special rituals or traditions in the black community. Although my family and I are African American, we have no cultural traditions either, we are pretty much Americanized and proceed with a funeral in order for the community to pay their respects. As far as the funeral, due to my grandmother’s religion, the funeral was held at a Christian church. The family does have traditions when it comes to the funeral service, but I believe that majority of Americans too have family members ride in limousines to and from the funeral in order to keep the family together. We sing on our way into the funeral, and we have the funeral home release doves at the burial site, due to a bible scripture. The family then comes together for a meal after the funeral, which is always a good