My first atheist funeral

[undeterred]

A good friend of mine died early last week and today there was a ceremony for her. I met her walking my dog in the woods- she was also walking hers- and it turns out that was the place where the ceremony was held. She wasn't the least bit religious. She had been married to someone from India but he wasn't religious either.

She loved animals, and the Beatles, and nature. About 25 people came. Four of us brought our dogs. And we stood in a circle in the woods, and her son played a tape of some Beatles songs, and we told stories about her. Nobody really officiated. The dogs participated. One man sang. One person sobbed. At the end some of the family members scattered her ashes into the wind.

I haven't been to that many funerals, but most of them have been religious and there has always been somebody who was pretty damn sure where the dead one was, metaphysically speaking. Today our loved one was in the baggie that was picked up from the funeral home. And we brought her to a physical place that she loved. Kind of symbolic, but also very tangible. She was there.

The path through the woods is a circle. We meet, we live, we die. Life continues.

I don't know that one way is better than another or that she ever discussed her wishes, but I do think she would have liked this. I liked it much better than a more solemn service. I liked participating.

The Long and Winding Road is a good song to play for such an occasion...I hadn't known that she loved the Beatles, so I even learned something new about her today.