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Are Funerals Really Necessary?
The Archangels Say It Depends on the Living, Not the Dead
My dad was the first really important person in my life who died, and he didn’t want a funeral. One of my sisters called the local Fire Department, as he retired a district chief, and they honored him at the gravesite. It was kind of nice. There was no minister present. The same sister who called the FD brought hot chocolate for everyone to drink, since it was a favorite of my dad’s, and afterwards, we went to someone’s house for a catered lunch. Simple. Easy.
When my mother died a year later, she hadn’t wanted a funeral, either. We just placed her ashes along with my dad’s. I think one of my sisters might have had a memorial service, but I’m not sure, as I was not invited. Sad to say, there was a division in my family by then.
Two years later, my husband passed, so I was in charge of what to do. My husband was raised in a Christian church, but as an adult he didn’t consider himself a Christian anymore. We hadn’t thoroughly discussed what he wanted other than he thought it was a terrible idea when people got up and made speeches about the deceased, because it usually just made people cry more.
If it had been up to him, he probably wouldn’t have wanted anything, although as I said, we hadn’t had that full conversation, as…
