Minneapolis/St. Paul Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Memorial Services
My father recently passed away and his wishes were to be cremated so we didn't have a wake or funeral for him but my sister and I are organizing a memorial for him. This is the first time that I have ever been involved with a memorial instead of the usual funeral/wake services. Can anyone provide any insight into the format or process? I know that there are probably individual-specific type elements but was just curious what the general overall format is like.
Re: Memorial Services
I am so sorry for your loss. ((Hugs))
As for memorials, what we did when my mom died was to have a visitation period during which the community came together (lined up around the building actually - it was impressive!) and filtered by us to offer their condolences and share memories. My father, sister and I stood together but at times we would rotate who was "up front" so that someone could rest/get some time alone. We didn't expect as many people to show up as did and so it was a bit overwhelming.
We did that for several hours (and then continued the next day at the church) - but then at a set time, everyone took a seat and we had a local minister lead some prayers and say a few words (he knew my mom well). After that, there was a period of reflection and then we invited anyone who wanted to to come up and share a story about my mom or to share their thoughts. It was really sweet. We didn't have a eulogy (sp?) - it was more of an informal "What did you love about Terri" kinda of thing.
After that, the "line" formed again. I remember I got separated from my Dad and sister and got my "own line' by accident and while I was exhausted and desperately wanted to have some time to myself and talk to some friends, I was so touched by the incredible showing of people and everyone wanted to give me a hug and tell me why they loved my mom. I just sort of stood there for what seemed like ages - until there was a break in the flow and I quickly "escaped". So, my advice to you would be to have an "escape plan" in case things seem overwhelming and you need a break. We had arranged a room in the basement of the building for just immediate family - with food and drinks - that we could go to if we needed to get away from the crush of people.
Oh - we also did photo boards around the room -with photos (and explanations) of my mom throughout her life. A lot of the people who came to the visitation hadn't seen my mom for years/decades and so they really enjoyed seeing pictures of her that were more recent and gave an insight into her life.
Again, I am so sorry for your loss. Good luck with the memorial - I found it to be a really touching celebration and gathering and it certainly helped with the greiving process.
I'm sorry for your loss.
When my grandpa passed away, he donated his body to the U, so we had a memorial for him. We did almost exactly what razamataz and her family did.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
A colleague had a memorial service for her husband. They had it at a relative's house and it was more like a casual cocktail party than a formal funeral type thing, but that really suited his life. They had photos around like razamataz mentioned and people could get up and tell their favorite memories or say whatever they wanted to say. They didn't have a religious component.
Tired after a long morning of hiking and swimming.
unfortunately, we just went through this a few weeks ago for DH's friend. It was Catholic and essentially had a funeral mass - without communion. Prior to the service, there was a 'visitation' in the church basement, where people went through the line to greet his family. There were also picture boards all around as well. After the church part, we did go out to the cemetery for the ash burial and brief service out there as well.
Also, a year or 2 ago, my friend's mom passed away, and they had a full-blown catholic funeral followed by the ash burial at the cemetery. I believe they had a visitation the night before.