April 13, 2022
Spring Break Travels
Out of all emotions, our sad travels seem to be the most remembered. This travel story features travel stories of melancholy and grief.Funeral: Far AwayIt was the week of my grandfather’s passing. Arrangements were made; he was to be cremated and sent to a funeral home I forgot the name of. The funeral home was far away. I was very young and did not know exactly where it was. I was maybe four. All I know is that it took more than a couple hours. Those hours that passed by in the traveling car were filled with melancholy and frequent sighs. My mother, father, and my sister were quiet along the way. Occasionally, my father broke the silence by cracking jokes and singing songs in an attempt to cheer us up. We stopped at a gas station, where my mother took too long of a time in the bathroom. Apparently, she was sobbing in private. Upon my father’s hearing of this, he told her that she shouldn’t hide her tears. Eventually, the funeral home was unveiled in a small farm town. As mentioned before, I did not necessarily know the exact destination, but I remember the building being beige, lavished with flowers and tall windows. In the funeral home were many people, most of which I did not recognize, others recognized only slightly. I shied away, too many people crowding me. At the time, I did not fully understand what death was, so I asked my father where grandpa was. He pointed at a vase and explained to me what happened in the best way he could. I was devastated at that time. I didn’t quite know my grandfather entirely, but this funeral was quite a somber occurrence.
—Conner Tuthill, Travel Editor