The range of illumination:

wicked_wish posted the link to THIS creepy article about Santorum (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61804-2005Apr17.html).

...Upon their son's death, Rick and Karen Santorum opted not to bring his body to a funeral home. Instead, they bundled him in a blanket and drove him to Karen's parents' home in Pittsburgh. There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2. They took photos, sang lullabies in his ear and held a private Mass.
um...um...o_o

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Are you saying Jesus didn't love little Gabriel?

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No, just that Jesus didn't take home a dead baby from the hospital, then make the Santorum children kiss and cuddle the corpse of their sibling.

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bedivere.livejournal.com

wow.. that article is uber-creepy... i mean.. damn, just damn

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Two of these people are not like the others.. (http://www.deathonline.net/remembering/mourning/victorian.cfm)

It was customary, not too long ago really, in the US for the family to spend time with the deceased as a way of coming to grips with the death and spending some final moments together. And, there is a variety of customs worldwide when it comes to how we handle our dead. In Japan, for example, some wakes are held at the mortuary, but many are held at home. In certain African and Carribean countries, it is not uncommon to bury the dead under or next to the house. And, even in the US today, there is a small but present following of home-funerals (see links below).

If you don't like the man's politics and his political opinions (and frankly I can't say that I would blame you), then mock him for those.

Washington Post - A Movement to Bring Grief Back Home (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060401667.html)
LA Times - Crying and Digging (http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-altdeath06feb06,0,2549383.story?coll=la-home-magazine%20)
PBS - A Family Undertaking (http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2004/afamilyundertaking/)

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Dude....cuddling.

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You didn't cradle Persephone when she died?

The society we live in, when it comes to death (like when it comes to so many other things), lives in this sterile and remote place. And, being the ~~Americans~~ ~~humans?~~ Americans we are, we are quick to forget that our way is not the only way.

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Persephone is quite alive.

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Egads. Sorry. :-/

I mean, good, but sorry. I'm not sure why I remembered her as having passed on.

I'll talk about my own experience, then. When Cassandra was dying and had to be put down, I held her while she died and held her bundle and cried for a couple hours before freezing her (until we could decide what to do with the body).

When Lazarus died, if the systemic infection that had marked the last week or so of his life hadn't so ruined his pelt, I had considered having his pelt tanned and stitched into a pouch to hold the rest of his ashes. I didn't hold him while he died or bring him home before cremation, because he had heart failure while at the vet on the former and he had so much infection in his skin that they wanted him to go directly to the crematory. Still, when I picked up his ashes, I think I spent an hour or so in the car with the urn crying hard enough that I was unable to drive.

And those were cats. Pets. I can't imagine losing a child, and regardless of what your or my personal beliefs may be, that's what this couple considered the fetus and had considered it since they were first aware of their conception. All things considered, it doesn't seem all that incomprehensible to me. A bit of a stretch, sure, but then, so are capri pants.

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I'm sorry if you were offended and if my comment was insensitive to other practices. That wasn't my intent.
I am aware of the old customs of the wake and of photographing the deceased. I admit I personally wouldn't want to take those actions to the extent that Santorum did, but hey, that's just me.
I have no problem with honoring those who are no longer in corporeal form, but I personally draw the line at using your dead child to promote your political agenda forcing the children to kiss and cuddle at length their premature, dead sibling (among other things).
I also don't believe in forcing children to kiss their dead grandma in the casket.

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There, they spent several hours kissing and cuddling Gabriel with his three siblings, ages 6, 4 and 1 1/2.

Now see, I had read the line as they cuddled the fetus and cuddled the other children. Holding both, but not necessarily together, if I'm bring clear, not forcing the child to hold, kiss, etc. the infant.

I'm sure the majority of this comes directly from the way death was presented to me as a child, but depending on how the parents handled it, I'm really not certain that it is as bad as you interpret it to be, or if it would be damaging to the children at all.

As far as forcing the child to kiss the corpse of their grandmother, I would agree you should no force a child to kiss a corpse. But, I would encourage taking the child to see the corpse, if you think the child was young enough or old enough to handle it. From my own personal (read: unscientific) observation and experience, it does seem to help the kid grasp the concept and finality of death a lot better than just explaining it (and, depending on the nature of their death, embalmed can be a whole heck of a lot more creepy than the freshly dead).

Also, I took nothing from the selection you originally chose to present that said your issue stemmed from his referencing the event in a political forum and everything that said it came from the way in which they dealt with the concept of death within their family. Perhaps, not knowing you, I am simply unable to read between your lines.

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Okay, apparently this is enough of a hot button issue with you that you felt the need to educate me through the multiple links (with added photo) in your first response, then continue to cross-examine me when I attempted a clarification. I may not be as eloquent with words as you, but since I seem to have upset you enough for you to form these responses to me, I will attempt to give an explaination as to what I meant way back in that top comment I posted to Scott's post yesterday.

Yes, I personally felt that Santorum went to an extreme with the handling of his miscarried, premature son. I felt like a large part of it was for the benefit of his political/religious beliefs against abortion. He describes the "letters to Gabriel", written before and after his son's death, that empasize "daddy's need" to stand up against abortion in the Senate.
Maybe I misunderstood, but from the article it seemed to me he was also having the children kiss and cuddle the corpse. I never meant that children shouldn't be given a chance to learn about death, or even to see a dead body. I felt that it was not just one thing, but the combination of everything he did in regards to the death.

Also, and this hasn't been addressed before because I didn't realize there was a need to know all of my feelings on it, I found the entire article about the man disturbing. There are many quotes from and about the man that make me feel he is a creepy asshat, both politically and personally. He mocks "politically correct" terminology and considers homosexuality the "the ultimate homeland security issue".

I should give the disclaimer that I'm not caffeinated yet, but I wanted at least try to clear up any unnecessary problems. I hope this helps.

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It's okay, you can BOTH take me to the Prom!

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