For the last 14 years Vera Lucia da Silva has had a dream of holding her own funeral while she is still alive.
The 44-year-old got to live that dream spending all day in a coffin while family and friends came to ‘mourn’ her.
She said it was the best day of her life.
The fake funeral, which was held on the Day of the Dead on Wednesday, took place at a funeral home in Camocim, Brazil.
Despite many of them being against the idea, Vera’s family and friends visited throughout the day to show support.
The owner of the Eternal Garden Funeral home, Paulo Araujo, donated the coffin and the space free to Vera, as a gesture of good will.
In a video, filmed on the day, Vera is seen having her make-up done and enjoying the moment. She messes around opening and closing her eyes causing her friends to scream with horror and laughter as she pretends to be dead one moment and alive in the next.
The married housewife, who doesn’t have children, explained that ‘celebrating’ her own funeral was an ‘old dream’ that she never thought would come true.
But she was determined to do it before she passed away.
Vera said: ‘I wanted to hold my own funeral 14 years ago. I’ve waited a long time and can’t believe that at last this wish has been granted.
She did it as part of the Day of the Dead (Picture: Caters)
‘When I invited my friends and family they thought I was joking and they didn’t take it seriously.’
Mr Araujo said Vera has been trying to persuade him to fulfil her desire for five years but he has always resisted up until now.
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He said: ‘Her husband has always been unhappy with the idea and has stopped her from doing it before. But this time she finally managed to persuade the rest of her family to agree to the idea, so we went ahead.’
Vera arrived at the funeral parlour at 7am on the day and started the preparations for her wake, which lasted from 9am until 6pm.
She admitted that she has a fascination for funeral ceremonies and always tries to attend as many as she can in her spare time to help with the arrangements.
She had dreamed of going to her own funeral for 14 years (Picture: Caters
Vera dressed in a full length white lacy gown with her hair pinned back. She kept her hands still throughout the unusual event, laying one on top of the other across her abdomen.
Rosary beads were wrapped around her hands and the lower half of her body was covered with flowers.
As she lay in the coffin, friends helped to apply her make-up and funeral parlour assistants arranged and dressed the condolence flowers on top of her body, that had been donated by well-wishers.
During the preparations, they can be heard laughing and joking about it being a spooky situation.
One says: ‘Have you ever seen a corpse smile?’ To which Vera opens her eyes and laughs loudly.
Then teasing her they tell her to pretend she is alive and then dead.
Vera said: ‘I stayed in the coffin all day. The only movement I made was to turn my head to drink just coconut water and tea.
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‘Everyone came, my father, my mother, sister, brother and friends. When they saw me their mouths dropped open in amazement but they respected my wish to have my own funeral. It was the best day of my life.’
She revealed that the occasion was too much for some people who cried. However, others burst out laughing at the bizarre scene.
Before the funeral was over, Vera revealed she made one last request.
She said: ‘To complete my dream I asked the funeral director to cover the coffin with the lace top and the lid. Then I asked them to carry me around for a few minutes as if they were taking me to my burial.’
Vera added that while she enjoyed the day she is not ready to die just yet. From Metro UK.