Viewing the body before a funeral

[lazarus]

Is it just me, or this the creepiest ritual we go through? I remember when my son died, certain members of my family tried to encourage us to have a "viewing".

I responded that, if they really wanted to see dead baby, head on down to the morgue and get their jollies there, but don't use my son for that purpose.

This strikes me as being ghoulish. What's the purpose? To remember the person laying in a coffin with a bunch of makeup on? I remember my son's two months of life. A viewing would have overwritten a lot of that, I fear.

Am I off base here?


Brief edit to explain that all this talk about Reagan's viewing is what dredged this up.