WHAT.....THE.....HELL?

     I always thought that when I passed away, Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" or Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" would be playing in a loop at my funeral. If I know my wife, she'll make that happen for me too. Is that a strange request? Maybe, but nothing more stranger that Fernando de Jesus Diaz Beato's request. 

     The 26-year-old was shot and killed in Puerto Rico earlier this month, and his family honored his memory in the oddest way I think I've ever seen. Well, next to being buried in a tree pod, but that was an older blog. Beato, who suffered 15 gunshot wounds, was embalmed to look like he was still alive at his own funeral. Yes! In these photos, he's actually already dead. Can I get a united "WTF"?

     Beato frequently wore a black cap and smoked cigars, which is exactly how Marin Funeral Home in San Juan made him look. How creepy is this? VERY! His sister even told one news source, "Some people say it doesn't look good. They prefer something more traditional. But if that's something that the family wants, why wouldn't you do it?"

     The sister added that her mother was very emotional prior to the funeral, but calmed down once she saw her son embalmed, sitting up in a char from her home. She said, "That was his way of being. We wanted to remember him as he was. Everyone in the neighborhood loved him. Everyone remembered him." Hey, honey! If you want to remember him put together a collage, don't sit him there in a chair, and if everyone loved him so much, he'd still be alive, right? This is just so creepy! Now, what happens with the body? Does he just sit there in the chair forever? Or does he finally get put in a casket and get buried? Or does the family put him by a window in the attic and start killing people as they dressed like him? 

     Beato's mother always kept the plastic on the chair, as most Puerto Rican mothers do, and never let him sit on it. She did this time. This was also not the first time Marin Funeral Home, who kept Beato's eyes open as a surprise for his loved ones, has hosted this type of funeral. Damarus Marin, the establishment's director, told the New York Daily News they began these "non-traditional" funerals back in 2008. He said, "Since then, we have done 9 non-traditional funerals, according with what our clients have asked us to do." By the way, police still don't have anyone in custody for Fernando's murder. 

      I have to say that if this becomes the new norm, I'm not sure that I'll be able to go to funerals anymore. I can see the person sitting up like this in a chair with his eyes open. It's just too freaky. I'd rather stick to pictures and videos to remember the person. I can't be the only one here....