Quote:
Originally Posted by vintageogauge
I have attended several and I personally feel that it gives no goodbye or closure to the life of your loved one. This is just a personal feeling, I'm sure most people are happy with just a celebration but I don't feel it's enough.
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Depends.
When Mom died (2012) her "celebration of life" was at my Brother's home north of the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota. Those folks who know the culture up there will know what I mean when I say it was probably unlike most others. Mom (or rather her cremated remains) was given the Place of Honor. The celebration began shortly after her funeral, maybe 1:00 PM or so, and believe me, it was a celebration! A food table that would have done a professional buffet proud. Adult beverages abounded, with
slivovitz being the favorite tipple. Mom's brother, a professional accordion player, provided the music; interestingly enough the undertaker (Warren), who was also in attendance, had his buttonbox accordion with him so he and uncle ended up playing duets for the better part of the afternoon, Slovenian polkas and waltzes along with some mazurkas and schottisches, much enjoyed by the Priest, also in attendance, who as I recall packed down a respectable amount of
slivovitz himself. Mom's "memory board" (sister's idea) was positioned next tgo her urn and numerous toasts were drunk during the course of the festivities in remembrance of this-or-that.
Later on in the afternoon when the "band" was taking a break, my younger brother noticed that the family dog wasn't moving much, and inquired "Warren, if that dog is dead, will you bury it"? Warren agreed. Fortunately the dog was just sleeping off a couple of beers.
Party broke up about midnight.
Mom would have approved. Heartily.
The moral of the story? A celebration of life in my not-so-humble opinion should reflect who the person was and what was meaningful to them: in Mom's case family, church, and the bonhomie of good friends. There was a whole lot of belly laughs at her celebration amid the few tears. As it should have been.