When David Grant passed away, after 10 years of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, his family wanted to plan a Funeral/Memorial Service that reflected his joy of life before he became ill. It was important for them to have people remember David as the person he had been before Alzheimer’s had so drastically changed his personality.
They decided to focus their Service around a Photo “time-line”. Mary, David’s daughter, wrote to all the family and friends who would be attending the funeral and asked them if they had a favorite picture of her father, and if so, would they write a caption on it and bring it to the Memorial Service. Because David had been involved in many sports as a younger man—soccer, hiking, canoeing, skiing, and golf; had belonged to a golf, bridge, and investment club; and had done lots of traveling with their mother and other friends, they knew that many people would be able to bring wonderful pictures of David involved in the wide assortment of activities he had enjoyed.
The Family decided to have David's body laid out for visitation at the Funeral Home the night before the Funeral. The Funeral Director had set up a table nearby with many items on it that were relevant to David's life. His University Diploma, a high level scholastic achievement medal, wedding pictures, a picture of him with all his children, a couple of golf tournament trophies including one for a hole-in-one, and several of David's own paintings that his wife particularly loved. His golf clubs sat nearby.
The next morning, David was buried with only the immediate family in attendance. Following the burial the family went to David’s Golf Club, where the Memorial Service was to take place. Mary had managed to get 5 portable display stands from a local office supply/rental store and had them lined up along the far wall of the banquet room. She labeled each stand with a number of years of David’s life and attached the pictures that she and her Mom and selected from their own albums. The family then waited to see what would happen.
As guests started to arrive, they were amazed at how many people brought pictures of David. Each guest who brought a picture, was given a Velcro sticker for the back of it and asked to adhere it to the appropriate display stand. Soon, the entire display was covered with pictures of David enjoying life to the fullest. As everyone congregated around the picture “time-line” of David’s life, they were reminded of the very happy times he had experienced and the joyful life that had been his despite the last years of Alzheimer’s disease. For his family, this was a special gift.
The rest of the ceremony included wonderful speeches about David’s life and his unique contributions to other people’s lives. One of his Grandchildren recited a poem about how wonderful Grandfather’s are. A friend of the family sang “Amazing Grace” which was one of David’s most loved hymns. The family chose to serve thinly sliced roast beef-in-a-bun, along with an assortment of cheeses and condiments, instead of the typical buffet, because this had always been David’s favorite“party food”.
As guests left at the end of the ceremony, they were given a golf ball with David’s initials imprinted on it and asked to think of David when they were out on the links—enjoying a recreation that he had a real passion for. Most of the guests who brought pictures declined to take them home, and asked the family to keep them. Mary collected all of these wonderful memories of her father’s life and put them in an album, which is now a cherished keepsake.