Can someone explain to my why people would take pictures at a funeral?

[maryjane.texas]

That was something my mother did. She had a picture in her scrapbook of her mother, her sister, several brothers, and her son taken at their funerals -- in their coffins. I don't like pictures of the dead and did not put them into my photo albums when my mother sent them to me. My mother died in 2006 -- and I chose not to take a picture of her as she lay at the Funeral home. I felt guilty for not doing so -- her camera was there and I knew she would have expected me to do that -- and send the photo to her friends living in Virginia that would not be making the trip --because of their age and the distance and the time of year. I called her friends and told them I had not taken a photo -- and got the reply "That's okay, you can't think of everything at a time like that" --but the point is -- I did think about it and decided not to -- and this is something that I can't go back and do for them or for her. At the time, I sent each of her old friends a memorial Obit with a current photo of her --she was 85-- and a sound recording of the service --and hope they were satisfied with that. For myself, I think I would like to have a closed coffin. My dad just died this week --he was a Veteran --and my sisters and I have chosen to have the coffin flag draped and closed.