Wakey wakey

A friend of mine was recounting the first week of her partner as a rookie cop and the traumatic experience of having to deal with two heart attack victims in one day. One being a 40-something year old cubicle dweller and another a 70+ gent who both expired while just walking along, going about their everyday lives.

It started me thinking about the concept of death. After all, its inevitable. Everyone has to move on at some point.

But what got me curious was the term "wake".

Because if you think about it, in this day and age, the process of passing on is quickly followed by a pronunciation of death, sometimes by a coroner, then in some cases a quick embalming, before eventually being placed in a sealed casket for the wake.

For the object of the gathering, a "wake" is something you'd hardly expect isn't it ?

I mean imagine if after the deceased had been 'certified' by an expert, had their insides removed, and proceeded to "wake" up!

I don't know about you but I'd be quite disturbed and quite possibly soil my pants.

In case you were interested, I did have a look through google to see what I could find about the origin of the term. I didn't find any concrete answers, but I did find what I believe to be a well-written, albeit fanciful answer.