Celebration of life

Carolyn and I were fortunate to be invited to the Celebration of Life that was held in honor of Lois Marie Cox McAleer. And even more fortunate to actually be able to fit it into a rather crowded schedule (Carolyn's, not mine) And after the services, Carolyn and I both agreed this was the sort of funeral we'd like to have for ourselves. Everything was so upbeat and life affirming. There was no "speechifying" or preaching of any sort. The participants listed on the program gave short descriptions of Lois's life, her exuberance, or her daring life to take away her fun.

The motorcycle and side car pictured above on the cover of the program was just one aspect of Lois's life - she lived it to the fullest and right down to the very end. Lois is the mother of a good friend of ours Shannah McAleer who formerly worked with me at the Regional Center.
A competent organist and a vocal soloist set the tone which was a little faster than elevator music and much faster than what I'm used to hearing in funerals. We had the following picture of the last time we went out to dinner with Lois, her sisters, Shannah and her partner Kathy. That's Lois in the white headdress. We printed and framed a copy and gave it to Shannah.



Now Carolyn and I are giving some thinking to what we want to do have done for our "Celebration of Life". Depending on who's in charge of the Mormon church and our individual ward at that time we may or may not be able to hold the celebration in a Mormon building. But I think the details of the celebration are more important than the building.

And as the Reverend Moran said, we won't say farewell to you, Lois, but rather Godspeed!