Now this is what a funeral should be:

[meant2bemommie]

That is such an awesome way to remember and honor him!

 

[piecemaker]

When my mother found out she had cancer the doc gave her 2 months. She had managed a bar for 15 years (was out of it for about 10 years when this happened) We called the bar to tell them what was going on. They made a few calls to get in touch with as many of her old employees and customers as possible. We got her to stop by the bar one afternoon and their where about 300 people there and almost all of her passed employes showed up. She jokingly called it her"Going Away Party". It was great to see here so happy to see everyone. There were a few family members there and we decided to have a surprise family reunion. If you think a surprise birthday party is hard to plan you should try this!!! (She had a mobile home in the back yard so we did all the planning around her) Well we had it and She was totally blown away. We saw family we hadn't seen in years. They came from all over east and south Texas (200 people at my house). On day she showed up at my job with something she had bought for me and said she had a going away present for me , I told her I wasn't going away and she said " I know but I am" She blow us all away the way she handled everything. One day Hocpise came with her pain meds and she was mowing the yard (with a push mower) the nurse told her she couldn't do that and she ask why and the lady said because your are dieing. Needless to say that nurse didn't come back. Mother had 2 months and 12 days the last 2or 3 days where the only ones she was down. At her service we gave everyone a note card and ask them to write a short note are memory about her we tied them to helium balloons and released them at the grave side. It was so funny they floated north like they where going to her house

I think we celebrated her life and not her passing with as much love and grace as she gave us. I hope I can go with as much grace as she did.

 

[65browneyes]

I agree! We held a similar event after my father in law's passing last year. He'd retired from Arizona's Game Dept, and had made many, many friends through his years. He brought his young family to this area, raised three kids here, EVERYONE had a story about him. We were devastated by his loss, as were many of the Old Timers who called him 'friend'. We wanted to honor his legacy with happy memories of a truly remarkable man.

I used science fair project boards to create photo displays of his life, from childhood through his 'golden ages'. Those boards sparked so many memories and stories. It was such an incredible day. And the best part was that he would have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it, and I beleive he DID enjoy it.

Now his grandchildren's last memories of grandpa are from the day we honored him, not the day we lost him.