Your Life, Your Party
Butterflies, wagon trains, antique cars, brunch, slot
machines, popcorn, and fireworks. What
do these have in common? They are all elements of a good party. They are also elements of an appropriate
memorial. When it comes to a creating a
meaningful memorial, there are lots of options.
In recent years the use of photographs has become
commonplace at many funerals or memorial celebrations. Family photos may be in the frames brought
from home, arranged in a montage with
other photos, or played on a large screen in a moving video set to music.
Many other ideas are also being incorporated in memorial celebrations that
focus on the positive memories, life’s work, and hobbies of an individual. Many people in Charlotte may remember the
wagon train complete with outriders on horseback that was part of one
individual’s funeral procession to the cemetery. Other’s may remember a helicopter fly over
and salute at the cemetery committal service of another. Fishing and hunting trophies have been
included in other funeral and memorial services. All these ideas represent what family members
want others to celebrate and remember about their lost family members.
How often have you heard people remark “when I die I just
want them to have a party”? While few
people actually feel like having a party when they have lost a family member,
there is a similarity between some vestiges of a party in many
of today’s, funerals, celebrations or memorials.
Nobody would ever think a funeral is fun. However, by including the elements of a
deceased’s personality in a positive
manner, funerals, memorials and
celebrations have become an uplifting experience that helps surviving family
members start their journey through grief following a loss with a smile on
their face.
So you want to be remembered? You want to have a party? You can start by writing down some of the
attributes you might want included in a memorial, or funeral, either for yourself
or that of a family member. These
simple steps will be invaluable to family and friends. The next step would be to record these
preferences in a form of a Preplan, or Pre-arrangement with the funeral home of
your choice. That way they will be filed
in a safe, secure and retrievable manner for family to use as a guide at the time they need it most.
Article posted on Connecting Directors --
Check this out --
The Party of Your Life will help you explore the full range of creative, culinary, musical, and theatrical possibilities of a well-planned (i.e. self-planned) life celebration. This book is for anyone who wants to say goodbye in his or her own special way. It's also for control freaks like me, who don't trust their survivors to throw them the funeral to end all funerals.
Amazon price at time of this published page is $11.93 not bad for ideas you've probably never heard of..and may say. YES, that's what I want.
