Kenny, Manee and Jack in ThailandAs most of you know, Jack's mom, Manee Sivill, passed away on Thursday, September 6th at around 10:45pm in Las Vegas.
I don't have many memories of Manee. We didn't see her much, but I do remember the first time I met her. It was a few months after Jack and I were married and I remember that she came up to me and gave me a huge hug. She always called me 'honey' and was always so concerned if I was doing ok. She and Jack hugged and hugged during that time because it had been a long time since Jack had seen her. The next time and I believe the last was right after Madeline was born. She was so excited to meet Maddy. I remember she laid Maddy in her lap with her hands cradling Maddy's head and talked to her softly in Thai. She kept saying how beautiful she was. I could tell that she loved her grandchildren very much.
Manee had been sick with kidney failure for a while but at the beginning of August, she collapsed and had been comatose. On Thursday afternoon, we had gotten a call from Laura, Jack's sister, saying the doctor's were saying it would be best that she be taken off life support the next day, on Friday night. Thursday evening Jack and I were hurrying to get things ready to go to down to Las Vegas first thing the next morning to be with her. I guess she decided she'd rather go her own way because she passed away at the hospital with Laura at her side that night.
The funeral was on September 11th in LV. It was a Buddhist ceremony. Buddhists (as far as my limited knowledge gathered) believe that the spirit hangs around the body for seven days, not really knowing its passed on. The monks, along with help from the immediate family members, say (or rather chant) prayers letting the spirit know that it is time to go to the next life, whether that be heaven or to their next reincarnation.
When the monks arrived at the funeral home they set up a table near Manee's casket with a statue of Buddha. They attached a piece of string from the Buddha to Manee, representing her ties to life. Then the head monk got up and explained about the ceremony and the prayers they were going to chant. After the prayers had been said they brought with them special straw like flowers. I missed what they represented (as I was wrangling a screaming, exhausted Madeline in and out of the chapel through the whole thing) but everyone in the chapel was invited to come and receive three of these from Laura and place in them over Manee. Then you could wish her a final goodbye.
After that was complete, the men in the family including Jack's brothers Kenny and Willy, step-brother Jim and brother-in-law Juan escorted the casket out of the chapel and down to the crematorium at the far end of the mortuary parking lot, while Laura carried the string. Once inside, another prayer was chanted and the lead monk cut the string with some scissors, representing Manee's ties to life being severed now. With the help of the mortuary staff, they placed her casket in the kiln and then together, Kenny, Jack, Laura and Willy all pressed the firing button together, which is the custom.
Being christian, it was interesting to see a different religion's perspective on death and I appreciated the simple beauty and symbolism of the ceremony. Manee looked very peaceful in her casket and the staff at the mortuary did an excellent job of making her look so. They had even painted her nails red like she used to like them. Her spirit was strongly felt there, especially at the end when all her children had to commit her body to fire. They grieved the most strongly then, and I think she was trying her best to comfort them.
In remembrance - Manee Sivill - 1944 to 2007