A Celebration of Life ceremony provides an opportunity for family and friends to share their love and respect for the person who’s died and to support each other. It permits facing openly and realistically the fact that death has occurred. Through the ceremony, the bereaved take that firm step toward emotional adjustment to their loss, and eventually closure.
Ceremonies also lend dignity and respect for the deceased. Highlighting this person as an individual of worth and acknowledging his or her lifetime of accomplishments and achievements is of paramount importance.
Your family may wish to have a religious ceremony in either our chapel or the church of your choice. Others may prefer a ceremony with less structure and a more humanistic approach. Either of these, or a combination of the two can be arranged. Increasingly, family members or close friends choose to speak during the ceremony and share stories and life experiences of the deceased. At Comox Valley and Island Funeral Services we provide total flexibility to accommodate your needs.
In addition, families often choose to have us create “Memory Tables” containing personal items of remembrance or photo displays to enhance their “Celebration of Life.” We can also provide specifically trained “Civil Celebrants” for families who prefer a non-religious ceremony or gathering, and of course, professionally produced “Celebration of Life Video Presentations.”
Regardless of the location, context or approach of the ceremony, its purpose is to provide the opportunity to properly “say goodbye”, and to help share and disperse our grief. We must deal with the death so that we can place it in proper context in order to move on with the grieving process and with our lives.
“THE FUNERAL IS A RITUAL OF ENDING, BUT IT ONLY MARKS THE BEGINNING OF THE HEALING PROCESS” – Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph. D
