Hello Jaye P. Marshall , I hope you are enjoying this site as much as I do. I generally troll the site looking for things to read, I was searching for items of the Family genre and the emotional topic mentioned in this intro intrigued my roving imagination.
I am Just an Ordinary Boo! and I am going to be reviewing your piece as a gesture of friendliness, please accept it in the same spirit with which it is offered.
The Title: I tend to place a lot of importance on this one element - maybe because it is the first device you can use to pull a reader into your work, it always seems a pity not to make full use of it.
There's nothing wrong with this title, it is terse and powerful, along with the intro it succeeds in creating the image of a potentially emotional tale. Funeral - young boy - remembers Dad. Apt, without being revealing.
All it lacks is the kind of attention-grabbing persona that only unusual combinations or incongruous associations make. For e.g.: "Funerals, Cattle Prods and Baseball". I am not suggesting a change, just giving an example of such a title. Your choice is sedate and works well for this simple tale.
The Beginning: Great opening lines. It establishes the place and sets it in our mind with a few deft words. We immediately know it is a white-framed church, that there are stained glass windows, that outside are white oaks whose branches are swaying in a light breeze. The main character is introduced, a young boy who is whose emotions seem strangely awry. This amazing job is completed in exactly three sentences.
The Setting: Even other than the opening setting, there are others that are equally vividly described in fine brush strokes, confident and sure.
Whether it is the Thanksgiving with an almost 'Oliver Twist' like moment of pathos, or the scene in the woods where sadism and sensitivity clash, each is brought to life.
The church setting however, looms clearest, as it should; the rest is just a mental journey into the past.
The Characters: Each one is described as much as required, Chuck gets the bulk of the description, but his father and other family members get their share.
Take these lines that have the protagonist look over at his siblings - to contrast their demeanour with his own: "His younger sister, Mary, honked loudly while little Annie, face contorted and tears streaming, leaned against their mother." One can see two little girls either overcome by the occasion or genuinely grieved. It is effective against the stoic reflections of the main character.
The Descriptions: A lot of it was the relationship between father and son, this has the pride of place as far as descriptions go. Other things are not neglected though, the preacher's drone interrupts his thoughts and directs his leaps into the past - "Chuck dredged through his memory, searching for the warm feeling conjured up by the preacher’s words" Each experience is a little vignette, building upon the one that went before. Until, in the end, an implacable picture of consistent derision, nay - abuse, is created.
The Dialogue: Wherever there was dialogue it was completely natural, nothing stilted or abnormally polite and saccharine sweet.
"“Hey, Mom, they here yet?”
“Shhhh, Chuck, she said in a hushed voice. "Your Dad’s still asleep." When Chuck wakes up, he's not wasting time with a polite 'Good morning, Mom.' He wants to know if his aunt and uncle, his cousins are there yet. He'll probably ask again soon, unless the idea of his Dad been woken up prevents exuberance. Kids do that, will Time to fast-forward to a pleasant expectation.
The Technical Aspects: Grammar and Punctuation: Let me clarify - I tend to misplace commas, quotes, semi-colons and other hook-like things, including clothes hangers and ear-rings! So any suggestions I make are pretty much guess-work, but those points did make me re-think!
You are one wise person. The sentences are short and crisp - that keeps them clear and lucid, it also avoids comma hassles. I must try that out in my own writing. On the rare occasions the sentences have many phrases, you manage not to get them tangles or spliced. Good job.
The Story as a Whole: I like stories that are classic with the standard Plot-Conflict-Resolution; I love the maverick ones which have hanging endings and overlays of story.
I had just one question, the child makes a telling observation/query in this tale. As he reminisces about his experiences with his father and the sadistic use of the cattle-prod, he wonders of his mother - "Chuck sneaked a glance at his sobbing mother. How could she be so sad? Had she never felt the sting of the prod?" I too wondered - hadn't she? Such sadistic bullies generally keep anyone else cowed and subdued. The younger girls might escape until they started questioning his authority, but his wife was unlikely to have escaped, unless she was completely submissive. That part might have been enlarged, to complete my feeling of satiety. But I know I am being greedy, this was well-done, just as it is!
This has a resolution, only it is unexpected. There's no sudden rush of love, no discovery of overwhelming memory and sorrow. There's just a child managing to shrug off his burden of guilt and able to feel confident in God being all-knowing and therefore all-understanding.
What I liked: I am glad the child is not filled with only resentment, he struggles to relive happy memories. There are a few, sadly, only a few; the dark far outweighs them. It is well interspersed with the present, the text of the service providing a constant parallel thought process.
There's so much for everybody here, a lesson for stern parents. A masterful tale told in delicate overlay, with hints of abuse that should alert the more complacent ones, who say it never happens in good households. An affirmation of faith for unconventional believers, like me.
Suggestions: Nothing much to even qualify as 'quibble'. Only this one sentence stood out as the solitary instance where your meaning was not clear and vivid to me.
"He had shown his cousins all of his favorite spots, then they conned Dad and Uncle Bill into a game of touch football" If it is 'had shown', should it not be 'had conned'? Why 'conned' exactly? I did not get the allusion, but we don't play touch football much over here.
Any comments are made as an individual opinion. Please sip what you find sweet and discard what you think is sour.
Jyo
May your words go on to shine! 
Review submitted by a Proud Sunshine Reviewer for "Invalid Item" !!
Effort brings colour to Life 
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