Granny's Funeral Montage

Below is a montage made up of photos from my trip to Iowa for my Grandmother Margaret's funeral. The trip was sort of like a dream - lots of raining, driving, smoking and musing. If it weren't for these pictures, I might wonder if it really happened.

While taking the creepy pictures of my grandmother's corpse, I was barely able to hold the camera steady 'cause I was shaking so badly. I kept expecting her to sit up and say, "Get that damn camera out of my face you hussy!"

Of course, even if my grandmother had been alive, she wouldn't have said that, she just would have given me a dirty look and gone about her business. Unlike me, granny never liked to cause a scene.

My father and I followed her hearse down the empty dirt roads which she trudged back and forth on as a girl. The "Driftless Area" of Iowa is littered with rugged hills, valleys and impressive vistas. The grass was very green, rain fell heavily and a thick mist coated the passing landscape. We listened to Peter Gabriel's Passion and soaked in the gray Edward Gorey-esque day.

When we finally came to the place that grandma will call home for all of eternity, it felt as though we had entered some sort of alternate dimension. Such a strange thing is death, and stranger still, there is Iowa and my grandma. Rest in peace Margaret and may your dreams be grand.