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Celebration of Life instead of tradiotional funeral

Run&Blade

HR Legend
May 6, 2005
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I prefer them but I can see an arguement that it doesn’t create self reflection on your own mortality.
 
Maybe I haven’t been to enough of the former, but in my experience so far, they’re not much different than the latter unless they’re far enough removed from the burial that the emotions of grief have run their course.

Harvest my organs, cremate me, then drink my bourbon collection while talking about how great I was as a high school baseball player, a golf scramble partner, a husband, and a dad and I’ll smile down on you while doing my best “The Sixth Man” impression to get the Iowa basketball team a championship.
 
For at least the past 30 years the Funeral
Home industry has pushed the concept of
"Celebration of Life". It was aimed at the
people who had no church connection and
thus no church funeral.

The Celebration of Life included a display
of the departed's favorite things in the
funeral home foyer. There was a slide show
of the highlights of the departed's life or
perhaps a video.

Of course, the Funeral Home industry wanted
to be paid for their facilities in hosting this
event.
 
My church seems to frequently have some ceremonies titled as "Celebration of Life" and I can't really detect any discernible difference between a CoL and a funeral. My guess would just be that Catholics and many Protestant denominations require it to be a formally referred to as a funeral service.
 
Celebration to life to me is the family in a line, you pay your condolences, grab a snack if provided and leave.

no religious events of any type.

in and out in 15 minutes.
 
For at least the past 30 years the Funeral
Home industry has pushed the concept of
"Celebration of Life". It was aimed at the
people who had no church connection and
thus no church funeral.

The Celebration of Life included a display
of the departed's favorite things in the
funeral home foyer. There was a slide show
of the highlights of the departed's life or
perhaps a video.

Of course, the Funeral Home industry wanted
to be paid for their facilities in hosting this
event.
Why are you against small business?
 
I don't care because I'll be dead. However, I did tell my wife that I'll come back and haunt her if she spends one cent more than necessary on my funeral.

Told mine the same. Have me cremated and have a gathering at house or something. Spend as little $ as possible.
 
After my daughter died, I found this meme on her phone that she had texted to a friend just days before going to the hospital:

hwmshrjqwgs21.jpg


She mentioned that she wanted these at her death party (no one knew she would die soon after).

Anyways, we passed out ~100 kazoos at her Celebration of Life and everyone hummed along to "Don't Stop Believing". That song was chosen because she had played it in orchestra and really liked it. Plus, kids and parents would mostly know it.
 
Told mine the same. Have me cremated and have a gathering at house or something. Spend as little $ as possible.
This is exactly what we did with my dad, and it was perfect. People showed up at their leisure, many former students, associates, guys he played pickup basketball with. Catered some small bites, simple help-yourself bar. Spontaneous toasts, stories told. It was perfect.
 
I don't care because I'll be dead. However, I did tell my wife that I'll come back and haunt her if she spends one cent more than necessary on my funeral.

Funerals are fuggin expensive. My sister (no pic) and I did most of the planning for my dad's funeral five years ago. Even though we knew the funeral director very well, it still felt like a scam. You're making decisions about many different things in a short period of time. Then, after it's all over, you get the bill and it's a whopper. Dad's funeral was pretty basic, but still cost about $15,000.
 
When I’m gone, have a Chinaman harvest my organs (if they are worth saving), throw me in the trash, and party and celebrate being together.
 
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Funerals are fuggin expensive. My sister (no pic) and I did most of the planning for my dad's funeral five years ago. Even though we knew the funeral director very well, it still felt like a scam. You're making decisions about many different things in a short period of time. Then, after it's all over, you get the bill and it's a whopper. Dad's funeral was pretty basic, but still cost about $15,000.

I would love it if Iowa came up with the same "human composting" law that one of the Pacific NW states (Oregon, maybe) was talking about. Let my wife turn me in to a composting company and once my body had broken down, put my dirt at the base of a tree in my yard.

Funerals are one of the biggest rackets in the US, right up there with health care and military contractors.
 
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When I’m gone, have a Chinaman harvest my organs (if they are worth saving), throw me in the trash, and party and celebrate being together.

Yep. Take what organs you can, burn the rest and pay some drunk kid to dump my ashes at Kinnick (or at our tailgate spot, whatever). Then throw a party with an open bar and cabs.
 
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Yep. Take what organs you can, burn the rest and pay some drunk kid to dump my ashes at Kinnick (or at our tailgate spot, whatever). Then throw a party with an open bar and cabs.
My dad played catcher at Stanford. We spread some of his ashes behind home plate and then some in the outfield. His brother suggested we spread some in the outfield, saying, "it might be the first time he made it past the infield." My dad was not a good hitter. Made for a great family laugh.
 
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We did my dad’s exactly as he would have wanted. About eight of us went to the cemetery and buried his ashes in a small hole between his parents. We each said a few words about what he meant to us and that was it.

His “Celebration of life” was the next day at his favorite tavern, where people came and went all afternoon and we occasionally toasted him with shots of his favorite whiskey. Lots of laughing and story telling. Always grateful to the bar owners for that.
 
Upstream some poster stated that
funeral homes are a small business.

That may have been true 100 years
ago but not today. Many funeral homes
pay a franchise fee to join organizations
like Dignity or Legacy. The funeral home
is a big business and unfortunately could
use more government regulations.
 
When I die, I want to be cremated. But I also want a funeral procession that just drives around aimlessly for about an hour, tying up traffic for no good reason.
Just like your posting style. Very fitting.
 
I don't care because I'll be dead. However, I did tell my wife that I'll come back and haunt her if she spends one cent more than necessary on my funeral.
I've repeatedly told my wife that if I go first I expect a giant funeral pyre, and for her to throw herself on in grief.
 
We learned a few things recently about funerals. It's kind of weird how there can be an assembly line process to it. Our mom had dementia, and spent several years in care facilities, but her core was excellent. She was never on any long term medications in her life. She walked miles every day, never smoked and only had the occasional beer while watching the Cubs. A fairly strict Methodist lifestyle of temperance. They called me on a Sunday to tell me she was having difficulty holding food in. Monday morning I drove down to Kalona at 9 am to check on her and the nurse greeted me in the hallway to tell me he was just about to call me, that she was slipping fast. She passed four hours later. She just shut down. The nurse told me in all of his years he'd never seen such a relatively person of that age pass so quickly like that.
We knew that eventually we'd have to organize a funeral, but we'd never gone beyond the stage of setting aside some pictures and things we knew she'd want at her funeral. All of a sudden we are at the funeral home with only a few time slots available. We had to get notifications out, and rush to put things together. I was shocked at some of the costs. And, I don't mean that in a cheap way, Mom paid for it all anyway, but the advertised costs of the caskets was insane. Even what they called the most basic coffin was two grand. As mentioned, Iowa, and every state should just allow people the option of a pine box, or some form of composting. The practice of sealing up remains in a casket and concrete lined grave is baffling. Of course, Mom wanted to be buried next to Dad, but people should have different options.
To the general question, I'd rather a quiet celebration of life versus a formalized ceremony.
 
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