09-18-2004, 10:38 AM
Diana Branton dragged herself up the stairs at the Coroner’s office, swallowed hard, and walked inside to identify her brother’s cold, lifeless body. She took a quick glance at the colourless face before her, and confirmed that it was indeed her sibling, Dane Squire. Squire was the apparent victim of a GO train accident last week, and with the positive identification, the family began the daunting, sorrowful task of planning his funeral.
They expected tears, and condolences. They expected emotional eulogies and glassy-eyed goodbyes. What they didn’t expect, was that Squire would casually walk into his own wake, wondering what all the fuss was about. In the process, he lived out a morbid fantasy that most of us have entertained at one point or another, and found himself at the centre of a remarkable mix up.
Squire described his sister’s befuddled reaction to seeing him at his own wake.
“What she said was, 'you are dead,' ” Squire laughed. “And I said, 'what are you talking about? '”
“I come out here and I seen him in the chair,” Diana explained. “Our neighbours are screaming in his face, ‘buddy, I just came from your funeral. You are dead. You are dead. ‘ “
But the self-described drifter was anything but.
“I am thankful that my dad is here and love is all around me and he is here and I just want to go home and rest,” said an emotionally wrought Trina, Squire’s daughter.
Squire now hopes to plan a family reunion, and live out the rest of his life with loved ones.
“I hope to God that everything just works really well,” he said, full of life. “I don't need any more hitches.”
Now that the shock has subsided, the family finds the whole episode somewhat comical.
“Oh, yeah, it was too funny,” said Diana, who erroneously identified the body. “I said, 'Dane, they are all at your funeral, burying you. Oops!”
They expected tears, and condolences. They expected emotional eulogies and glassy-eyed goodbyes. What they didn’t expect, was that Squire would casually walk into his own wake, wondering what all the fuss was about. In the process, he lived out a morbid fantasy that most of us have entertained at one point or another, and found himself at the centre of a remarkable mix up.
Squire described his sister’s befuddled reaction to seeing him at his own wake.
“What she said was, 'you are dead,' ” Squire laughed. “And I said, 'what are you talking about? '”
“I come out here and I seen him in the chair,” Diana explained. “Our neighbours are screaming in his face, ‘buddy, I just came from your funeral. You are dead. You are dead. ‘ “
But the self-described drifter was anything but.
“I am thankful that my dad is here and love is all around me and he is here and I just want to go home and rest,” said an emotionally wrought Trina, Squire’s daughter.
Squire now hopes to plan a family reunion, and live out the rest of his life with loved ones.
“I hope to God that everything just works really well,” he said, full of life. “I don't need any more hitches.”
Now that the shock has subsided, the family finds the whole episode somewhat comical.
“Oh, yeah, it was too funny,” said Diana, who erroneously identified the body. “I said, 'Dane, they are all at your funeral, burying you. Oops!”