A Unique Cultural Experience

This past week Andy's uncle (his father's brother) passed away. Although Andy hadn't seen him or talked to him in over 25 years, because the funeral was in Edmonton, we went out of respect for Andy's dad. What a unique experience!

Andy's extended family comes from a Ukranian Orthodox tradition, and the funeral was conducted by a Ukranian Orthodox priest. The entire service, with the exception of a short eulogy by Andy's cousin, was sung in Ukranian. The priest sang a portion, answered by the congregation, led by a female singer. There was plenty of sitting and standing and making the sign of the cross. Those of us who were not Catholic/Orthodox and/or who did not know Ukranian just stood there respectfully. The priest was not much older than us, but he was apparently straight from the old country, as his English was extremely limited.

The internment was at a cemetary several miles away. When we drove into the cemetary, I was stunned. I knew Edmonton and the surrounding area was home to many Ukranians who arrived here in the 1920's and 1930's, but the cemetary was like a trip to another country (actually, the whole day felt a little like that!). There were literally thousands of tombstones engraved with Ukranian names. About half were in the Ukranian alphabet, the rest were the English tranliteration of the Ukranian names. It was an incredible sight.

The funeral was great time to get together with relatives - Andy's brother Chris & his wife Melody came out from B.C., and their daughter Stefanie & her husband Justin came up from Three Hills, AB. Andy's dad and younger brother Lorne came from Red Deer. After the internment, everyone was invited to lunch at a hotel. It was a great time of meeting Andy's aunts, uncles, and cousins, and even a few of Andy's dad's cousins. I never knew Andy had all these relatives! It was a lot of fun. And of course they served cabbage rolls and perogies. We learned how to write Andy's family's original last name in Ukranian (it sounds a bit like Small, which is what Andy's great-uncle came up with when he landed in Canada), and heard lots of family history. I absolutely loved it!

And to top off the day, Andy's dad, brothers, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew-in-law all came to our house to hang out, followed by a trip to WEM for shopping and dinner - a great ending to a great day.