Unique Celebration of Life Ideas from Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynold’s Funeral Services

We lost Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher the wonderful  mother and daughter Hollywood duo within a day of each other. Their private and public funeral services contained some creative life celebration ideas to commemorate their remarkable lives that might inspire you.

Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, what a mother-daughter force!

What to say when you are scattering a loved one’s ashes?

 

Final word to her mother before scattering her ashes. It’s never easy finding the right words to say at such an emotional time.

This poem or verse was written by Jennifer Levenson,  for the spreading of her father’s ashes. Jennifer generously offered it to us in the hopes that others might find it useful. We both hope you will find it helpful when you are  looking for what to say as you  scatter a loved one’s ashes.

At the End –
Jennifer Levenson 2008

We stand as testament to your will
That governs us post mortem still
You wanted that we bring you here
In words unambivalent and clear
To spend your afterlife at ease
Scattered near your favourite trees

Funeral or Legacy Instead? Anna Dewdney Chooses to Create A Legacy

Writer Anna Dewdney asks people to celebrate her life by reading a book to a child.

One of the glaring changes in the end of life arena is the change in emphasis from whether to bury or cremate to how to create a legacy.

Before the 1975 only 6% of the US population was cremated, but today it’s about 45%. With the emphasis being less about caskets, body viewing, tombstones and buying a  grave site, the new focus is how to create a legacy.  I’m seeing baby boomers in some way, even a small way, wanting to leave a mark on the people who knew them and perhaps even those who didn’t.  

The Dash Between Poem

Below you will find the poem, The Dash Between which has become a popular poem to read at a funeral, memorial service or celebration of life. You can find a wonderful selection of free poems for a funeral, memorial service or celebration of life that you may be planning here.

The Dash Between
Ron Tranmer©

I knelt there at the headstone
of one I love and cried.
Name with dates of birth and death
were perfectly inscribed.
I pondered these two dates
and how little they both mean
when compared to the tiny dash
that lies there in between.

Hunter Biden’s Eulogy for his Brother, Beau Biden

By guest contributor,  Charlie Klein

Hunter Biden remembers his brother, Beau Biden, in a heartfelt eulogy.

It’s hard to know someone without actually meeting him. However, a good story about an individual enables the listener to have insight into that person. After listening to Hunter Biden’s emotional eulogy of his brother, Beau Biden, I felt like I knew Beau on a personal level.

My favorite line from the eulogy is, “But, to me, my brother is not defined by his extraordinary resume, he is defined by the quality of his character.”