I stood at the graveside, staring down into the hole that contained Kia’s body. Her final resting place. The minister was reciting some prayer. I heard Mom crying, Dad was comforting her. Why do we do this? Who does this whole process benefit? Kia was gone; she wouldn’t know who came out to mourn her. So what was the point? This whole exhibition was for those of us left behind. To pay our last respects. What did that even mean? Were we supposed to stand here and do our grieving before going on with the rest of our lives without that person? Were we supposed to try and make peace some sort of way if we had unresolved issues with the recently deceased? Kia was gone! She wouldn’t get to see our son grow up. She wouldn’t know that I was sorry for the choices I made that led us here. She wouldn’t know any of that, so me standing here as some man that didn’t even know her talked about how she was at peace now only served to anger me.
