DEAR ABBY: I have never seen my problem in your column and must therefore believe others are not as affected as I am concerning this issue.
I am afraid of dead people.
I am a white, 60-year-old female, well-educated and a product of the Deep South.
I can go to a wake or funeral as long as others are around, but I will not go into a room alone where there is someone lying in a casket.
My mother is elderly, and I live in terror of her death because I know I will be expected to kiss her. This is something a lot of families in the Deep South do.
As much as I love my mother, the thought of having to kiss her dead lips is terrifying to me.
When I was 3, I was held up over my dead great-grandfather and made to kiss his cheek. It was like kissing a cold piece of marble.
I am a Christian and don't think I am abnormal, but this is something I cannot share with anyone.
My mother and sisters have no problem kissing our dead relatives, but I just can't do it. Am I abnormal? -- ASHAMED
DEAR ASHAMED: Abnormal? No. Traumatized, yes. Children should not be forced into gestures of affection, as you were. When the time comes, do not worry about kissing your deceased mother. If anyone comments, say, "I want to remember kissing her warm cheek when she was alive."