JOHN’S CELEBRATION OF LIFE

           We’ve never been a religious family so we had to think about what we wanted to do to celebrate and memorialize John’s life. He had stated (and it may even be a part of his will) that when he died, he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes spread under the apple tree in our back yard. That’s where we’ve buried all our pets from the last 50 years, i.e., Fang the Wonder Dog, Tusk, Nila, BS, Dingy, Sven, Midnite, Mia, and Lucy, and he wanted to be reunited with them…as do I when my  time comes. So, John's never far away, and it's lovely to think of him and his furry and feathered loved ones cavorting beneath the apple tree when a full moon shines down upon them.                                      
          

His sons and I decided we’d have an open house. We sent out invitations via email and snail mail and asked recipients to please share with other family and friends who might like to attend. We had a plaque made for the apple tree that listed all the pets, with John’s name at the top. We hoped for good weather.

          Fortunately, the day was nice. A small table was placed under the apple tree on which John’s ashes, a spoon and a candle were placed. Attendees were invited to go to the tree and share a quiet moment or say farewell and sprinkle a spoonful of ashes beneath the tree. We had a table full of food, wine, beer, soda, water and a guest book our family, friends and neighbors could sign if they so wished. 

          For four hours we welcomed folks, shared memories of times past and remembered John as he once was, not as he had been in the last few years. There were tears, laughter, sighs, wishes made, hugs shared; and I think most people felt as though John were there with us. 

          Much later that evening, we had a two-hour thunder and lightning (over 2500 lightning strikes) storm. You have to understand that such events in this area last mere minutes, and rarely more than 30 minutes. This night the lightening brightened the sky, thunder roared both overhead and far away; and, we, the family, decided this was our patriarch letting us know what a wonderful job we’d done with his celebration, that he was happy in his new digs and that he loved us all.

            Eight layered photos taken over the course of just 20 minutes by Tim Durkan

                                                                            9/7/2019