Unlike the American visitation, the Laotians visit the deceased family the day that the person passed away and everyday after that until the funeral. Portou Ny, Bo’s uncle passed away on Tuesday and families and friends from far and near traveled to pay their respects.
The weather was real bad in our area today, we had sleet and this made traveling very difficult and we saw several accidents on the highway. I’m glad we made it to our destination safely and visited with the family. When we got there the monks were chanting.
My sister paid her respect. She lit one incense stick and I didn’t know that you can’t light it from the lit candles. I didn’t ask why, not sure if they were afraid that the candles would go out or it’s bad luck. There was a lighter there to light the incense stick.
If I remembered correctly from my mom’s funeral, the white bundle on the right hand side was his personal items, which includes clothing.
Below is Cun 5, and it’s 5 pairs of flowers and candles for paying homage to the lord Buddha.
Families and friends give money to the deceased family as a merit making.
Ai’Khaith was busy writing his dad’s life history. Portou Ny had 4 children, and Ai’Khaith is the oldest.
The ladies were preparing dork Janh, the funeral flowers.
They didn’t have a sewing machine, so it’s back to the basic of using thread and needle.
My sister made a Lao tubular skirt (sinh) for the white nun.
The funeral is tomorrow and unlike American’s funeral, we photograph and video record the funeral service. It will be a busy day for me.
Nye Noona 
I’m terribly sorry for your loss. I love the photos. Our culture is so beautiful!
Looking forward to your capture of the day.
Thank you Theek for your kind words. It’s a beautiful tradition and I’m glad it’s not lost in the US. I finally have a chance to make a blog post, I hope you like the photos.
[…] home could be as long as 1 week or longer, and in Portou Ny’s case I was able to attend the last day of the gathering only since I had to work and he lived 1 hour from us. The day of the funeral was long, it was […]
I send my condolences to you and your family.
I also lost a favorite uncle a few years ago and remember the funeral process was done much the same way. I sometimes wonder if this tradition will last for another generation.
Thank you cn. I sometime wonder about that also, as for my generation we know very little about the Buddhist tradition and let along Lee’s generation.