This invitation arrived at my door the other day.

It is an invitation to party with the whole family at Mount Pleasant Cemetery to celebrate the opening of their new Visitation Centre. It is promising ice cream and cotton candy, along with many other family delights.

I don’t want to sound like a cemetery party pooper. Mount Pleasant Cemetery is gorgeous, filled with spectacular gravestones of wealthy families, rare trees, and is the final resting place for high profile Canadians such as the co-discoverers of insulin Banting and Best and pianist extraordinaire Glenn Gould. It was one of my favourite places to go running back in the day when I used to run. It is lovely.

I am not against the idea of melding life with death, it’s unavoidable after all. I have always admired other cultures that make death more a part of their lives. I love that some cultures set a place at the table or leave offerings for their passed on loved ones. I would love to go to Mexico to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

But henna tattoos for the kids? Balloons? “Fun for kids of all ages’? It kind of throws me. It feels a little macabre. It’s not the first destination that springs to mind when I think of a fun family outing.

I had the same feeling when I saw a sign outside Hooters advertising Family Day. It just seemed out of place somehow. Hooters, synonymous with bountiful chested girls in satin shorts and tank tops, doesn’t strike me as the first place to go for a family meal. “Come on grandma, grandpa, kids! We’re going to have lunch where daddy likes to stare at boobies!”

Perhaps I am a cemetery and big boob chicken wing eatery prude. Breasts, death, chicken wings, it’s all natural, right? Shouldn’t everyone be entitled to find their fun where they can? Maybe I am old fashioned killjoy.

As much as I am a tad curious I will have to miss the cemetery party this weekend. My nephew is turning one and I will be attending his party instead. I can only hope that there will be ice cream and cotton candy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 11:14 am and is filed under Toronto Dates . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.