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Re:Why I Write My Own Obituary Every Year by r_p4rk on Wednesday October 02, 2024 @09:18AM (#41720313)
In Ireland, they are called a wake.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_(ceremony)

Re:Why I Write My Own Obituary Every Year by patrickwalton on Wednesday October 02, 2024 @09:23AM (#41720384)
That Wikipedia page says viewings are basically the same as a wake. Are viewings not common in the U.S? They're common in Utah.

When my dad died, before the viewing there was the period right after death where my siblings and I sat in the room with his body and talked until the mortuary picked him up.

Re:Why I Write My Own Obituary Every Year by tbihl on Wednesday October 02, 2024 @09:33AM (#41720474)
My suspicion is that the proliferation of cremation has significantly reduced the incidence of wakes. That, and US American society has so much functional separation that most of us probably interact very little with the elderly, thus also not ending up at many funerals.
Re:Why I Write My Own Obituary Every Year by prettyStandard on Wednesday October 02, 2024 @09:49AM (#41720647)
I'm from the Southeastern US. They seem pretty common here.
Re:Why I Write My Own Obituary Every Year by voisin on Thursday October 03, 2024 @10:03AM (#41730917)
We have wakes and visitations in Canada too, but they are held at funeral homes for brief periods - not in the home of the deceased or a loved one. I think this might be the same as the Jewish ritual of “sitting shiva”?? But I am not sure.