Now, families are just as likely to choose a "memorial service." The most significant difference between a funeral and memorial is that at a memorial there is no casket or final disposition. Often a large photograph or montage of smaller photos are used as a display in place of a casket.
CLICK HERE to read how a recipe can become a sentimental, unique and unexpected living legacy.I've noticed over the years that the tone of funerals and memorials has changed. Quite often both now incorporate the theme of "celebrating" the life of the person who just passed away. The last funeral I attended had plenty of tears but also a surprising amount of laughter.
In the spirit of celebrating a person's life I had an idea to do something unique and meaningful at the service of anyone who was a great cook or was well known for a particular recipe by sharing their recipes with the people who attend their funeral or memorial. CLICK HERE to view the details.
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Hi Stacie,
Having just attended a memorial service for a friend who was involved in NASCAR racing, I can relate to your blog post. Les Richter was a fantastic individual who was not only full of life, but bigger-than-life.
It came as a very pleasant surprise, when at the end of the pastor's sermon, he quoted a passage from the bible, 2 Timothy, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" and then waved a checkered flag.
It was perfect. Through tears, we all laughed...and agreed.
Hi Mark, I am so sorry for the loss of your friend Les. Thank you for sharing this story. It's a wonderful example of personalizing a memorial in a sharing, fun and respectful way.
Hi Stacie,
Thanks for this wonderful post! A Recipe Tribute -- I'd never heard of this idea, but of course, it makes perfect sense!
I don't know much about how people used to conduct memorial services, but these days they always seem to include some poignant touch to recall pleasant memories of the departed.
In my experience, I've often brought music to these affairs, and I've noticed people include other sounds, aromas, colors, images, favorite foods -- the list of "touches" is as long as our personalities are unique.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, when I spent so much time visiting the old-time musicians in New Orleans, I had many opportunities to attend, and occasionally join a brass band in, their "jazz" memorial services. Not having grown up in that social scene, I can only guess at what it all signified to the participants, and I'd probably be only partly correct, and mostly wrong.
But I liked to think all that joy and sadness combined to exactly what you described -- bringing "the memory of a person back to life in a way that words or pictures on a page can't.
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