{"id":20983,"date":"2024-06-12T00:32:14","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T06:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=20983"},"modified":"2024-06-10T17:33:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T23:33:20","slug":"why-memorial-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/12\/why-memorial-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Memorial Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY JOELLEN COLLINS<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
JoEllen Collins\u2014a longtime resident of the Wood River Valley, now residing in San Francisco\u2014 is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, a teacher, novelist, fabric artist, choir member and proud grandma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I <\/span>spoke this week with a few new friends about the traditions of memorials after the death of a loved one or acquaintance. I am only writing this column now because I am involved in a very beautiful commemoration this week. This will honor the passing of my longest lifetime friend\u2019s husband.\u00a0I loved him like a brother.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since I am no longer residing in the Wood River Valley, I have been keeping up with obituaries noting the passings of several people I enjoyed knowing during the forty-two years I lived in Idaho.\u00a0Last week\u2019s news mentioned the deaths of two friends of mine, one a short-term boyfriend and the other a charming man who shared a love of writing with me. We were simply friends who together could laugh, write, and share our enthusiasm for this area and our neighbors.<\/span><\/p>\n

While I was discussing this with another resident of my place, she said she just couldn\u2019t understand why we called the gatherings after death \u201ccelebrations.\u201d\u00a0Aren\u2019t they, she said, just gloomy and unnecessary?\u00a0I have given much thought to that statement as I face recent losses, especially since I am now an \u201celderly\u201d woman saying goodbye to ones I will not see on earth again. I\u2019ve always hated goodbyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even so, I have concluded that these celebrations are, for the most part, necessary for sharing grief and memories which may ease the mourning somewhat and should not be dismissed as selfish or frivolous. After all, we are joyful at births, the first part of our collective journeys. So why not accept observances of the end of life, with religious\/spiritual and often private ways to say \u201cgoodbye\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

When I was very little, I attended Salvation Army funerals with my family, who were descendants of members of that faith. I vividly recall the \u201cHallelujahs\u201d and joy when the cleric would remind guests that the recently departed had been \u201cpromoted to glory.\u201d\u00a0Naturally, there were tears, but also an acceptance of this final phase of life and a belief that our souls survive in the afterlife.<\/span><\/p>\n

I attended a lovely service In Idaho where, when the congregation departed, we all joined in singing \u201cWhen the Saints Go Marching In.\u201d We shared smiles with our tears, glad we had been able to spend part of our lives with such a good man.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I have come to the conviction that ceremonies, celebrations, commemorations, or (even) funerals are appropriate for the most part. I don\u2019t want mine to happen this minute, but I hope that when I leave this life, I can know that those who liked or loved me will gather and occasionally smile and rejoice in the times we had together in our physical forms. I hope people will be able to laugh at some of the memories. There is nothing better than a sense of humor, something I admire more each day. There\u2019s no reason not to enjoy the shared memories, accept the loss, and celebrate the lives of those passed.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY JOELLEN COLLINS I spoke this week with a few new friends about the traditions of memorials after the death of a loved one or acquaintance. I am only writing this column now because I am involved in a very beautiful commemoration this week. This will honor the passing of my longest lifetime friend\u2019s husband.\u00a0I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16827,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20983","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-on-lifes-terms"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20984,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20983\/revisions\/20984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}