Image of the Day - Mt. Auburn

Mirrored surface monument at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge

Image of the Day

Crypt and tree merge in an old cemetery in Kalaupapa National Park in Hawaii.

Dancing in the Aisles

http://www.jitterbuzz.com/frankie.html# 

Many people today feel that funeral services are not important or meaningful to them.  What is wonderful about rituals like funeral services though, is that they are not set in stone.  They can be adapted to pay tribute to what was important to the deceased, and what is meaningful to their survivors.

Dancing in the aisles of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, mourners in 2009 paid tribute to "Dean of the Lindy Hoppers", Frankie Manning.  This was a delightful mix of old and new, remembering the church roots as well as the lifelong passion of a remarkable man.

For more on the five day long celebrations, visit jitterbuzz.com

  

For Sale- VW Funeral Trailer

The procession is one of the most ancient and meaningful parts of  a funeral service.  It is a public acknowledgement of the importance of an individual's life and passing.  As such, the choice of vehicle should be intentional and appropriate to the life lived.  If you are in the market for a special and meaningful way to transport your dead to their memorial function and place of rest, consider this beautiful reminder of the VW Westfalia camper bus.

For Sale - Westfalia Funeral Trailer (one of only a handful in the UK and certainly one of the best) 8ft x 4.5ft x 4ft high. Can be painted to match your towing vehicle free of charge if a deposit is taken in the next couple of weeks. Original Magnesium Fuch wheels. Price £3000 email me if you would like more info/pics marc @ dogsndubs .com  

Baby Boomers Change Focus of Funerals in Australia

“You have a much more educated consumer and they want to run the show, whereas before it was, ‘You are the undertaker, we will do what you say’. It is very, very proactive now - the family part.

“We are still are very much involved in the church services, but more and more because we are our own celebrants we are getting involved in the designer funerals.

“We had a funeral recently where everybody had to wear pink, including us, so we went out and bought pink ties and Bronwyn wore a pink blouse. We had another where to celebrate a man’s love of his vegetable garden we helped organise a casket arrangement with carrots, cauliflowers and potatoes.”

Michael Crawford of funeral directors Charles Crawford and Sons agrees it is questionable whether the “celebration of life” isn’t itself a bit of a denial of death.

“Funerals have come a long way, but the ancient art of dying is never going to change,” he says.

“You can lighten the moment, but you know that at some point of time that coffin is going to go and that is the cruncher in the whole process - it is the physical separation between the living and the body.

“The baby boomers have kicked this off. They are the ones who want a party. The next generation will take it further and as we go down the track it will be different again.

-From 'Not so Grave Funerals' read the full article on Wyndham Weekly

Last Words from 'The Art of Manliness'

For more manly last words, visit the article at 16 Manly Last Words

Lantern Memorial for Tsunami Victims

Photos from RFK's Funeral Train

For more amazing photos and the story behind them, visit The Year in Pictures

Funeral Home Facilitates Incredible Lego Casket for 10 Year Old Boy

An inspiring story from the Siskiyou Daily News:

A custom-designed and custom-made Lego casket – it is adorned with 26,000 Lego pieces – sits at the Fort Jones Cemetery Saturday morning just prior to young Dylan Frick’s memorial service.

Jamie Nowdesha, a funeral counselor and personal secretary at Girdner Funeral Chapel in Yreka, was instrumental in moving the month-and-a-half-long project to construct a casket for Dylan adorned with 26,000 Lego pieces along. She made the original call to the Lego organization and was the contact person for the casket manufacturer and the Lego artist who designed and created the Lego outer shell.

for the full article, visit Siskiyou Daily News
thanks to Jeff Jorgenson for the lead

Cemetery Terrarium

Tiny Cemetery Terrarium by Meighan O'Toole , see more at the my love for you blog