Mama would have to be resuscitated if she should ever spot flip-flops at a funeral. When I attended my first Southern funeral, I was just 7 years old. The dearly departed was a distant great-aunt whom ...

Southerners quickly switch into hosting gear at the first sign of a wedding or a baby shower, deploying casseroles, strategizing seating charts, and polishing silverware. Funerals are no exception. In ...

We Southerners are good at a lot of things. Putting people in their place while still sounding sweet (Bless your heart, darling.) Saying things are “just fine” when, in fact, they’re not at all.

In the South, grief comes with a casserole. Before the obituary hits the paper or the flowers are even ordered, someone’s already brought over deviled eggs. There’s a pound cake on the counter, a ...

Funerals generally aren’t funny. Funerals in the south, however, can be entertaining. Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays, author of “Being Dead is No Excuse” and “Some Day You’ll Thank Me for This,” ...