Our family is rather odd about funerals.  We tend to laugh a lot at them.  If I die and my family carries on at my funeral like that I will be gratified by it.  I don't want the gloom and doom.  Of course, if I live to any old age, I will outlive all my family so there won't really be any one to be there. 

Funerals bring our extended familty together in a nice way.

I nearly went to my own! Fortunately, I am still here. (I got out of the hospital on Friday from a severe pancreatic attack - if I had waited any longer to go to the hospital, I would have been in ICU on a ventilator!)

Funerals serve several purposes, one of which is to help the family and loved ones start to live their lives in a changed world; a world without that person.

Mood at the funeral can be caused by a number of factors. In my family, mood is a lot more gloom and doom when it is a funeral for a child or someone who is at the prime of their life rather than for someone who is 80 and was ready to go. I also find that personal beliefs about life after death also contribute to mood. If the person had a faith which gave them hope about surviving death, it seemed less gloomy.

I hope at my funeral, people will not be gloomy, but hopefully they will be able to celebrate knowing me.....hopefully I am worth celebrating!
An

No, I've never had it before. Mine was caused when a gallstone (also new to me) traveled down the duct and got stuck at the pancreatic duct, which then inflames the pancreas. Treatment was to have the gallbladder out, so it should never happen again. Apparently I should start getting back to normal by this Friday, and fully recovered in about a month. I've been sleeping a lot, and just started back on solid food yesterday.

I'm not the type of person to run to the hospital every time I feel a pain, so I, too am glad I decided to go. It is my own stubbornness which would have killed me! There won't be a next time for this issue, but from now on when something is not normal, I'll go!
An

No, I suppose that's one of the things that can get people in trouble. I do not just run to the doc when things get painful, but there was something inside that said I needed to go. It was painful, but only about as much as a really bad bloated belly. Right now, the pain is minimal as well - just post-surgical pain, but I have to watch what I eat or else I feel sick. The longer I waited to go in, the more pain I was in, though, so not much at first, but by the time I got my first dose of morphine, I was in moderate to 'pretty bad' pain.

I'm good now, though! No funerals for me - I hope, knock on wood! Still, you just never know....
An

An, what a shock! 
I'm so glad you got medical attention in time! 
Just not enough excitement in life now that exams are over?

When I didn't know the person well, or rather, know a family member and am attending to support them, I usually prefer to go to calling hours (aka The Viewing/The Showing)  the night before.  It's a less formal, more social gathering. 
Something that has gained popularity in my area, maybe everywhere,  is to have a video or slide show running during calling hours.  Old home movies, family snapshots, sometimes even set to favorite music.   I like that.