About How Cultures Grieve.

The boy asks about death & the afterlife.

Photo by Paul Quispe on Unsplash

We attend the internment of ten-year-old Robert, who succumbed after a five-year battle with Leukemia.

As relatives, we are here to comfort & mourn with the family. We look at pictures of Roberts's life & honor Robert's exemplary character during his short lifetime.

Andrew, Robert's seven-year-old brother, asks;

"Will he come back in another body or as an eagle? Robert always said he would love to soar like an eagle and see the world below."

Andrew looks at the minister for an answer. The priest tells him the truth about what happens to the human body in death, but about the soul & reincarnation is another story, as no one knows. We believe or disbelieve what culture & religion tells us.

Father Peter explains as follows;

Within 24–72 hours after death, the internal organs decompose. Fifty years after death, tissues have liquefied & disappeared. By 80 years, the bones have deteriorated, leaving behind a brittle mineral frame. Finally, after a hundred years, the bones have turned into dust. Only the teeth remain.

Archeologists and scientists report in The Conversation article as follows;