Spanish views from a small town

I went to a funeral yesterday. A modern, twenty-first century funeral that has taken us one step further away from our past and our acceptance of death as a part of life. It used to be so different. Granted that I'm glad some things have changed, it still seems we're trying to negate death by pushing it out of our lives. Now, when someone dies, the undertakers are called. They come, collect the body and take it to the funeral home. The family simply has to get dressed and follow. At the funeral home they are assigned a viewing room. It's a large room, with sofas and straight chairs lining the walls. In one corner there is an area, walled off and with plate glass, behind which the coffin is arranged along with the flowers. It's a cold room, a refrigerator, really, which helps keep the deceased decent during the two days of the viewing until the funeral. No one can touch the body, except the immediate family when everything is first set up and immediately before the trip ...