Memorial Services

Rhonda Neighbourly Lead from Hastings Central

Hi Neighbours,
It was my great privilege recently to oversee the best Memorial Service I have ever been part of or heard about.
A lovely friend recently lost her mum overseas and they as a family had not had the opportunity to hold a funeral service
As a funeral celebrant, I really felt for this lovely daughter who was grieving. I suggested we have a Memorial Service to farewell her mum and give thanks and celebrate the relationship that they had shared.
One thing led to another and I am pleased to report that a couple of weeks ago, about 15 of her friends all gathered together and we had a lovely evening which we titled, "Come and Meet my Mum." We spent the night being shown her handiworks, many of the beautiful things she had made, her photos, we even had a paper from the day she was born in 1938 from Melbourne where she had been born! We used a record player to play Mum's favourite records including The Seekers, Nana Mouskouri, and Engelbert Humperdinck. We ate foods that Mum had liked to cook, and enjoyed sitting at a long table together and we learnt about who she had cooked various meals for and family fun that was had over fighting who had the most hokey pokey pieces in their ice-cream (we made sure we had a joke and argued over who had the most on the night too!) We went outdoors for a bonfire to share some special memories from Mum's life, including remembering her as a Girl Guide Leader and how much she treasured her own father and grandfather who had served in the army. We roasted marshmallows and clinked our tin camping cups together. There was something very comforting about that outside fire with its warmth and red-hot glow. We laughed as Mum used to tell the girls you should start a fire with only ONE match. Turned out the pressure was on our firelighter as their was literally only one match left in the box!!
By the end of the night, everyone felt like they had really gotten to know "Mum" and were so glad to be able to share in a night of treasures, and special memories and help 'daughter' to take comfort in taking time with friends to tell some of her stories and pay a wonderful tribute to her mum.
I honestly feel it went so well that I wanted to share the idea that Memorials can be done in a variety of places and are only limited by our imaginations. Sometimes we have memorial services if there has been no funeral and that is more than possible. In some countries, families, and friends gather at certain stages after someone has died e.g. 5 days, 25 days, 50 days, 1 year.
Some people are talking about having a memorial service to mark anniversary days, like 10 years since someone died or what would have been an 80th birthday etc.

One lady I recently spoke with said both her parents died overseas and she never got home. No one here knew them at all. We talked about possibly going to the park on a sunny day and having a small private service for them.

Sing out if you would like to discuss the idea of having a Memorial time for someone who has died recently or for someone who died some time ago. I am happy to help you create something personal that works for you.

I am also available to officiate as a Funeral Celebrant, lead ceremonies for the internment of ashes and unveiling of headstones. I am independent and can work with any of the dedicated Funeral Directors/Undertakers.
Please contact me directly for a no-obligation free chat.

Blessings
Rhonda Diprose
0278299984