Lifestyle Diary Game [Date: 18/6/24]: My grand ma’s service of song.

I lost my grandma around last month and since she was a staunch Anglican member, we were given 28 days to prepare for her funeral services. Anything outside those 28 days, they won’t conduct the funeral service for her. I am not an Anglican member, so I really don’t know the reason for that.

But rumors have it that, because of the exorbitant parties Nigerians use to honor the dead during the burial ceremony, the Anglican churches are really frowning upon it. According to them, burial is a period to mourn your loved one and not to put yourself under undue pressure trying to throw a lavish party to celebrate the dead.

So, in order to discourage all that, they give people 28 days, knowing fully well that you won’t be able to pull off such big parties. Trust Nigerians, they will always find a way to play a fast one. What people do now is that, when they lose their loved ones, they won’t inform the church. They will keep them at the mortuary, sometimes for months, until they are buoyant enough to organize a very big burial ceremony for them. Then they will inform the church, and the church starts counting the 28 days from the day they received the information.

I don’t really know if the 28-day rule is subject to only Anglican churches in Nigeria and, to date, I don’t know the main reason for the rule. But these parties thrown for the dead are a way of celebrating life and are done only for old people who lived a long life. For young ones, they bury them almost the same day or within a week at most.

So, Tuesday was the service of song for my grandma, and it was held in St. Peter's Anglican Church. I had to leave from the office to the service of song, carrying some clothes I would change into when I got to the church. That was the reason for the school bag.

My grandma had 12 children, and among all of them, my mom is the only one who is late. So, as the first son of my mom, I had to stand in for her in the family. The service of song was successful, and I saw a lot of my uncles, aunties, and cousins that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Some, I had never met before, and I took the opportunity to take pictures with some of them. That way, I will remember their faces whenever I see them again before someone goes and marries his or her relative unknowingly.

Well, that’s all for my diary session for today and I will be coming up with the main burial ceremony later on but before then, let me invite @dar22, @ameh123 and @emmy01