Some, in early American culture, and even some today, believe that the deceased might knock three times before leaving. There are those that just sense it when it happens or have a dream about the person, (possibly meeting them on the astral plane). This does not have to be immediate but, sometimes, can take months for this closure to take place.
Wakes, viewings and funeral services are a very important part in most cultures, I believe, because of this final closure. Some people actually need to see the body to solidify, in their mind, the passing of a loved one. Others just need that time "with" the person and family/friends etc.. Personally, I have only been to one wake and the spirit was there, standing right behind his parents, even flying around the large Catholic church screaming "Weee, I can fly!". LOL It was very hard to keep a straight face during that part, and I don't think I did. ;)
It is also interesting to note that many animals, besides humans, mourn the passing of another. Elephants, for example, take time to honor their friends and will even visit the burial site repeatedly. What about graveyards? Busy with activity or deader than the fake flowers? Some see a lot of spirits hanging around but it is many people's opinion that most spirits have better things to do. In my personal opinion, I think that the majority of spirits that one might see at a graveyard are people that haven't gotten over their own passing.
When a spirit departs from the body it has three basic options, as far as I know, (there may be more but these are the only ones I can think of this early in the morning. LOL). 1) Stay on 'Earth' until their loved ones, or someone special to them, have passed and possibly become a spirit guide/angel to those people, 2) Move on in their progression, (for Christians this might be Heaven, for others the Summerland, some Nirvana etc.) and/or 3) Keep on keepin' on, some people just don't realize that they're dead. Many hauntings we see are people that are still doing their 9-5, even in their old uniforms! This could also explain why some battlefields are supposedly so inhabited. Some of the people killed there were probably very young, (in civil war times the 'men' were kids much of the time etc.), and, being young people, thought themselves infallible so death wasn't much of an option in their minds.
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