But nationwide, and especially in the West's fast-growing, less-rooted communities, families are shunning the somber, one-size-fits-all rituals and customs of traditional funerals. Friends and families, often encouraged by funeral directors, gather not for tears and corteges but for a show. Increasingly, funerals are billed as a "celebration of life" or a "life appreciation service."Of course many of these supposedly novel practices are not new at all. I suppose you could make the case that the attempt to turn a funeral into an episode of "A&E Biography" is somehow a contemporary innovation, but I think it is only the technology that is new. The underlying impulse is probably as old as ritualized funerary practice itself.
A cowboy's hearse might be his pickup, and he might be buried with his saddle. The deceased might have doves, balloons or butterflies released as he slips into the grave to the sound of bagpipers. He might have his ashes sent into the heavens in helium-filled balloons or have them compressed into a one-carat artificial diamond to fit on a ring.
Funeral homes refer to this trend as personalization. It is a way to respond to the decline of organized religion in many communities, the industry says, and to reclaim business lost to families put off by funeral fees and coffin prices.
With that in mind, I'm wondering just how you all imagine your own funerals. If you're game I'd actually like to hear. I know how I envision mine. How's that song go? Just get me to New Orleans and paint shadows on the pews...
