Today’s funerals are better

Looks can be deceiving. Many years ago a healthy looking friend commented to a sickly looking friend, “You look like you have one foot in the grave.” The “sickly” friend is still going at 90, while healthy “bad luck Charlie” passed on years ago.

My 88-year life span zips by, like a flash from the past. As a member of the greatest generation, suffering from the Great Depression and World War II will never be forgotten.

I came from a small family, while many relatives came from large families. I had less joys and sorrows, while they had greater ones.

You can’t take it with you. The wealthy have a lot more to leave behind, while the poor leave next to nothing.

Funeral customs

Reflecting on some of the funeral customs of the Great Depression, some of the wakes were held in homes. Photographers would take pictures of the wake. I like today’s funeral services much better.

My mother would receive letters from the Old Country (Italy) edged in black, which meant another relative had bit the dust. We were not permitted to play the radio for a period of time. She also wore black clothes for a year. Another custom was to light a candle and place it in our bathtub overnight on All Souls Day, in November.

Years ago a 65-year-old wealthy relative remarked to me that he would give $100,000 to buy back just one year of his life. An interesting thought, but money can’t buy everything. I don’t have to worry about that, because as my grandson Michael Krieger wrote in the foreword of my book, “Rag Man, Rag Man:” “My Grandpa is going to leave us a legacy of wisdom not money.”

Michael J. Lacivita, a Youngstown retiree, is a member of the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.