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My question is about whether or not to attend a funeral.

A longtime acquaintance passed away recently and truth to tell I really didn’t like her. She was mean spirited and could be extremely cruel. She was such a terrible gossip that people were scared of getting on the wrong side of her. She often spread untruths, which her friends, in turn, would exaggerate upon.

Her beloved husband, who predeceased her, was admired by all and so people put up with his wife.

Who did attend and who did not attend the funeral will be recorded in her funeral guest book that will be hard to miss signing at the entrance of the church.

It is a small town and people will pay their respects, but quite frankly it would be hugely hypocritical of me to attend the funeral of someone I didn’t like, but whom I had known for most of my life. Do I have to attend the funeral, but I’m not going to the reception?

–Name Withheld

There are those who look forward to attending a funeral and the reception afterward, and there are those who chose to go AWOL.

There are also those who attend funerals for all the wrong social climbing reasons.

Your reasoning for not attending is authentic. You genuinely don’t want to attend her funeral, so don’t go.

After the fact, If someone says, “I didn’t see you at Edna’s funeral,” simply say that you had a prior commitment that you couldn’t get out of.

That commitment of course was to yourself.

~Didi