The Wake At Drake: DeSantis and Haley Debate in Iowa

Every time Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley get into cross talking buzzword pickleball Donald Trump’s 40-point lead in Iowa feels more solid.

Screen capture of CNN Republican Presidential Debate (CNN, Warner Bros/Discover)

The old timers did death differently than we do now, some out of changing times and mostly from escalating costs and a thriving funeral industry.

A wake, then funeral the next day. Now, the wake part evolved over time, from laying out the dearly departed in the living room and sitting up all night with them (to make sure the body wasn’t just mostly dead but all the way dead…awake…wake…get it?) with singing, crying, remembering, and various levels of inebriation that had to be faked through come morning, the preacher, and in-the-ground burial by shovel that fixed the hangover quickly. This was eventually cut down to a wake, or “visitation” for a few hours the night before, folks coming and going at a funeral home, and snacks and coffee. Nowadays, mostly you get no wake, an hour of coffee social before the service, then the big shebang sendoff.

Thanks a lot, inflation and progress; folks can’t even get grief hammered in their own homes over the decked out remains of their loved ones anymore.