Creating Meaningful Events that
Celebrate Life®
At Bradshaw Funeral and Cremation Services, we promise
to help create an event meaningful to you that acknowledges
and celebrates the life of the person who has died and brings
healing to the living.
"Celebrating life" means acknowledging the life
of the person who died. It means applauding their life and
rejoicing in the fact that they lived. A "Meaningful
Event" is a memorial or funeral service that touches
everyone present with an understanding of who the person
was that died and what they lived for. The event brings
meaning to people by allowing them to feel how that person
touched their lives and it creates something that touches
everyone with the gift of that person's life.
Your loved one had a very special life: he or she had beliefs,
dreams, troubles they dealt with, and things they loved
that brought them joy.A meaningful event shares those things
that were uniquely theirs and allows people to acknowledge
and feel your 
loved
ones life.
The person who died had an impact on everyone who attends
the service. They had a special gift that everyone felt.
It might have been strength, or humor, or stubbornness.
Whatever it was, it was a quality that touched people's
lives.
"Celebrating Life" means sharing memories of
the person, and how they affected your life.
Memories can be funny, sad, happy, or bittersweet, but
they all tell a story about the person.
It might be as simple as reading a favorite poem, or playing
the person's favorite Dixieland version of "When the
Saints go Marching In," or even telling a joke or funny
story they delighted in. For a child, it might be reading
their favorite book, or having their most loved toys there.
All those things that had meaning to the person who died
will give meaning to the service.
Creating Meaningful Events that
Celebrate Life®
All people can create memorial or funeral services that
are meaningful events
You can do so, beginning with the obituary
notice, by acknowledging the life of the individual,
their values, qualities and accomplishments. For some, the
obituary provides the only means they will have to reflect
on the life of a family member, friend or colleague.
When planning the services, all you need to create a meaningful
event is your knowledge of the person:
- special things they did,
- things they loved, and
- shared memories.
Our Funeral Directors can help you plan an event that captures
the spirit of the person, and brings meaning to everyone
who attends.
A few examples might help
One woman, who drove her husband everywhere during their
married life, wanted to drive the hearse to the cemetery.
This was a gesture she could make that was meaningful to
her and other people who knew them.
A family of one woman served cookies and donuts, because
every time someone came over to the woman's house, she made
them sit down and have some with her.
Another woman, whose husband had died, put together a picture
board that displayed photographs of him taken at different
stages in his life - from childhood to a recent vacation
they had taken. It made people feel good to see parts of
his life that they knew and remembered.
You can celebrate the life of your loved one in a memorial
or funeral service by encouraging people to share their
memories of the person and the meaning that person had in
their lives.
