The business. . .

This weekend I caught an Amtrak train on the Southbound Surfliner route to Oceanside. I went to see my very cool aunt who was down from far and distant lands to be with her family after her uncle died earlier this week. Being around for the tail-end of family grief once removed is an odd thing. I feel like I should've come away with a newly-developed acumen on grieving and the human condition. If anything I realized that death under the best circumstances (i.e., in families that get along and openly love and appreciate each other) is sort of untidy and unprofound. Sometime after the mourners leave and the neighbors take home their casserole dishes, someone has to clean up the life-business of their loved one-- doctors' appointments and lunch dates have to be cancelled, accounts closed, and possessions dispersed. Thinking about someone having to confront her deceased spouse's toothbrush every morning makes me sad.