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It's my understanding that they did have some interaction with society while growing up. They'd come off the mountain for certain things, like Liu's job or market shopping.

As adults, the children each came down to take jobs themselves.

Thanks for your comment, lavero, as long as your drink enough water the occasional cup of coffee or mug of beer is completely ok ;-)

I would say this series is for all age groups ;-) The first two books might be more children books, also I know many, many adults that enjoy them, but the later ones can be really read and enjoyed by everybody. If parents are concerned that the later ones are too violent, really, compared to zombie up blowing computer games in 3D they are pretty tame ;-) Apart of that the books tackle a variety of issues like bullying, making the right decision or how to react when authority does get it wrong that are important for everybody to think through.

This is a wonderfully told story. What I am wondering is: what happened to the kids? They grew up isolated from society.

You're a well-rounded person, Ma'am Lana! Great sharing of your experiences. It's a thumbs up from me!

@Ragtimelil: Thank you. Don't worry, I'll let you taste my own masterpieces. :)

@Brenda Reeves: Thank you for the patronage. With your praises, I will live up to your expectation as I share here on Wizzley more of my recipes.

Aha, I suspected something like that. In America you'd get thrown off a bit by that name, because of the highly-popular Milky Way candy bars here. :)

Milky bars or milk bars were restaurants where very cheap, but not too fanciful food was served, aimed mainly at students, alcoholics and people who couldn't afford to eat properly elsewhere. They were big during communism and still exist in some cities, although they moved upmarket and now are visited mainly for sentimental reasons. You could actually eat some pretty good food there :)

Yes. I like this take on a funeral or memorial or whatever it might be called. When I was in college, my best friend passed away quite unexpectedly.

When I went to the funeral they handed out these cards to everyone, with general info and the date, and a picture of my friend on the inside. As soon as I saw it I burst out laughing, and everyone was like 'are you okay?!' Yeah, I was okay, but that picture was despised by my friend. The very first time I ever stepped foot in her home, she paused, pointed at the very large copy of that same picture, framed up on the wall, and made a sound of distraught agony and said "Don't tell my mom because it will hurt her feelings, but that is literally the worst picture of me in existence and I HATE it." And I was laughing because I could picture her face too well... She would have been pissed off. And the funeral was short, and pretty typical, it didn't feel in any way that it was about my friend, so much as about the religious aspect of making us all feel better about death itself, if that makes sense. During the service all I could picture was my friend slouching in her seat next to me and whispering in my ear 'oh my god! just kill me now!' It was a bit surreal that I could picture her presence so well.

When we all got back home, no one in the dorm hall wanted to sleep in that dorm hall. Makes sense. We all took our mattresses out to the general living area, and shoved the couches and whatnot into the hall. I brought English muffins for everyone because literally the first thing on my friend's "bucket list" was 'try English muffins,' and everyday in the caf she'd look at them and I'd tell her to eat one and she'd go 'hmmmm not today' XD and green butterfly hair barrettes for everyone, because her favorite color was green and she loved butterflies. And we sat in a circle, for no other reason that it was the best way for us all to chat, and we took turns sharing stories, and memories, and we laughed as much as we cried, and I cherish that night as much as the relationship I shared with her. So the next time I saw my mom I told her I wasn't allowed to have a funeral when I died, if she happened to be the one planning it, but that whatever type of memorial happened, I wanted my friends to be as much a part of it as they were guests. She said okay. I think the Wiccan version is pretty much exactly that, with the religious aspect aside.

This is a perfect recipe for me! But - what are Polish "milky bars"?

Thank you very much. :)

well done jo

Hi Ember! It sounds to me like your parents had a really healthy approach to explaining death and encouraging questions.

I don't think you were alone in the type of questions either. I cringe now recalling some of the questions that my brother and I asked my Nan, the winter after my Grandad had died. Like 'is he cold in the ground?' and 'is he all bones now?' I remember my mortified mother telling us off for it, but can't picture my Nan's reaction. I think she was very dignified about it, else I really would have it lodged in my memory.

Taboo or unfashionable? You make some great points here. i know that forensics investigators and mortuary personal often still have to photograph corpses. They have a purpose and no qualms.

But would you feel confident requesting a photograph like the Victorian ones, if a member of your family died? How would you feel if a relative turned up to the death-bed with a camera? I think that would be incredibly awkward, hence my feeling that it's more taboo than unfashionable there.

Or perhaps the unfashionable nature means that we don't automatically know the etiquette, hence we shy away. You've given me plenty to think about here!

OH. And, I wrote you a comment last night but I guess I didn't post it properly, and I lost it. :C But I was wondering if it isn't so much a taboo as it just no longer serves its purpose, so it fell out of fashion. I think it's not as taboo as it really might seem at first, because when you consider the people in society today who are in the same place as many of these families might have been, I think a lot of times they do chose to take pictures. Back then, with the accessibility of photography being so low, that picture may be the only ones they have of their lost loved one, so it is a really good memento. If you think about it, most commonly the only families today that didn't have a chance to get a photograph of a family member or loved one, it is probably with a baby that was born really ill, and died soon after birth. And it isn't uncommon for the families of that child to take a picture with him or her, if they hadn't gotten one yet. And, I think, like if my sister or father passed away and I literally had no other photo of either, I know I would want a picture...And as perhaps as off-putting as the idea may come across at first, I think considering that, no one would think of me as incredibly creepy or look down on me. But because most families do have pictures, there isn't a need for such a practice. I dunno, it was a thought.

Sorry for multiple long comments :D