A Service of Love

When we were planning the Memorial Service for my daughter, one of the things we wanted was for the proceedings to be about her. Not about anybody else's beliefs, not about how she chose to end her life, but about her impact on the world, the example she set for others, and how she left the world a better place than she found it. She was agnostic, and none of us were the least bit interested in having some fire and brimstone preacher-man who never knew her hijack her service to advance his own agenda.*

So we decided that we would basically conduct the service ourselves. People who knew and loved her chose to speak, and tell stories about her life, and how she lived, interspersed with music that I selected.

I'm glad we made this decision - everyone has to deal with the fact of her death in their own way, based on their own belief system, but the common denominator was our love for her, and I thought the service was lovely. I hope she would have approved.

A number of people have asked about the music, so here's what I selected, which was played before and after the service, and between speakers:

Wagner's The Ring Cycle

I Want to Hold Your Hand, Glee Cast recording, featuring Chris Colfer

Still Within the Sound of My Voice, from Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind, Linda Ronstadt

Hallelujah, from Hymns from the 48th Parallel, k.d. lang

Eva (Orchestral), from Dark Passion Play, Nightwish

 

Touch the Sky, from Brave, Julie Fowlis

 

Wagner's The Ring Cycle

__________

*We have seen this happen far too many times, and really, this constitutes a throat-punching offense.