Abstract
Two personal stories illustrate cultural features taken up in this chapter. The
first occurred in 2005. I was visiting my aunt who was a patient in a Catholic
community hospital (not a fieldwork site). We heard a bar of a lullaby over
the public address system. The physical therapist working with my aunt said
delightedly, “That’s the fourth one today!” She explained that the musical
notes marked a baby’s birth. This simple gesture alerted everyone reachable
by the paging system that a new person had joined the human family and
that someone in charge thought that notice should be paid. Although I did
not ask, I suspect that no similar musical announcement occurred when
someone died, to mark a diminishment in the human family.