Celebration of Life

Families today often want a service that celebrates the life of their loved one, tells their sweeping story and focuses on the individual's life-affirming joys, achievements and highlights. 

We genuinely appreciate working together with families in planning a Celebration of Life  for their loved one. While it can be a challenge to put together an event that both pays tribute to and celebrates the life and spirit of a complex individual, it's also one of the most rewarding things family can do for a loved one.

Sarah York opens her beautifully-crafted memoir, Remembering Well , with a story about how her family chose to pay tribute to her mother. "My mother died in April 1983... She didn't want a funeral. 'Get together and have a party,' she had said when the topic was allowed to come up." However, she is quick to tell readers that the survivors did not honor the request. "We needed the ritual. We needed to say good-bye, but we also needed a ritual that would honor her spirit and would be faithful to her values and beliefs."

Ms. York teaches us something important here, that the celebration of life events we plan with families should be shaped as much by their own emotional and spiritual needs as their desire to celebrate the individual.

While Celebrations of Life are not burdened by social expectations — they can be pretty much anything you want them to be — it's important to realize that the event you're planning should help fulfill the emotional needs of the attendees. Who will be there, and what they're likely to want or need? Then, bring in those unique lifestyle and personality characteristics of the deceased. Perhaps add music, refreshments, a digital slideshow of family photos, and you've got the beginnings of a remarkable celebration of life.

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