The death of a loved one is a trying time for family and friends. I can help you navigate the process of planning a memorial event. My aim is to ease the process by facilitating the creation of a ceremony consistent with the life lived and the wishes expressed by the loved one being remembered, while attending to the needs of the living. My experience with those in grief lends me a compassionate ear and a competent demeanor with which to guide the process.
Ideally, the ceremony will be individualized to honor unique character traits of the deceased and interests expressed in life. It may have been pre-planned, or designed and individualized through consultation with family or friends. With that in mind, I will speak with you to gain a sense of the person being remembered and the kind of ceremony which would best honor their one-of-a-kind life. Please contact me to plan your ceremony.
Testimonial
That you officiated on such short notice is more than we could have expected, that you did so with so much style, grace, and understanding is exactly what we would have hoped for. The entire experience has led to connections and understanding of our common humanity.
The ceremony can take various forms, in a setting most meaningful to the participants. It might be conceptualized as a celebration of the life lived, and those in attendance can participate in that celebration to the extent desired, by remembering and sharing. Memorial services were a primary motivation for me to become a Humanist Celebrant. Humanist memorial services are non-sectarian in content and form.
I see it as a service to the community to provide a secular option for those who are grieving or have suffered loss. Many of us have experienced the imposition of exclusionary ideology onto an already raw and sensitive situation with hurtful, rather than healing results. A secular ceremony provides an opportunity for those of diverse backgrounds and beliefs to focus on the person commemorated in the ceremony, and to celebrate the special place they had in the hearts of those in attendance.
