The Fun-Morial

Mom wanted the family gathering after she passed on to be more of a celebration, so Jody named it a Fun-Morial and it was something akin to an Irish wake.

Mom said she wanted balloons for the 'service', and she wanted them to be the latex ones, not the silvery, mylar balloons. Treesie and her friends got them together just as specified. This is Lorin, Treesie's stepson bringing them in.

The Fun-morial was held in a meeting hall of the apartment complex where a friend of Treesie lives. It turned out to be the perfect setting.

Jody and Treesie worked hard on getting things prepared for the Fun-Morial, making sure things were just right.

My contribution was a slide show that was put up on the TV in this room, showing pictures of family and such, to a song by Mariah Carey which Treesie chose. The lyrics of the song are hauntingly appropriate... I also posted the words to the song at the bottom of this post.

If you want to see and hear the complete slide show, click on the link below and a web page will come up to show you it is loading. Just wait for it to show 100% and then it will start playing.

The Slide Show At The Fun-morial

One of the slides in the slide show. Instead of making it a somber thing, we did some 'tongue-in-cheek' funny slides too.


One of the early Easter pictures taken at my grandmother''s house. From left to right (back row) we have: Uncle Jimmy, Uncle Frank, his wife Aunt Martha, Mom & Dad. Down in front we have: Cousins Kimberly (pink basket) & the twins Karen & Sharon. Then there's me (green basket) and my brother Chris.

This picture was taken a couple of days before Mom passed away. My neice Kaylee decided to 'do up' Dad's hair and she felt that since his hair was long enough, a mini Pippi Longstocking look would work....

There were many family members and friends. (L to R) is cousin Sarah & her boyfriend behind her, Uncle Jimmy in the background, my brother Jody, Dad (background) and Mom & Dad's friend from church, Mae.

Right shoulder, please. Thanks for the pose!

Sarah, taking a load off for a few... Say, "Cheese!"

As the Fun-morial wound down, everybody slowly drifted off. The sun set and we just sat around the table until about 10:00 PM and reminisced about days gone by. This was a good way to remember Mom, rather than by having a big cry-fest memorial service. We chose instead to celebrate her life, rather than to mourn her death, which seemed to be a more fitting send-off.

Thanks to all that came by to be with us, and a special thanks goes out to everybody whom wished they could have been here.

Song Lyrics:

This is for the people
Who just lost somebody
Your best friend, your baby
Your man or your lady
Put your hand way up high
We will never say bye
No, no, no

Mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers
Friends and cousins
This is for the people
Who lost their grandmothers
Lift your head to the sky
Cause we will never say bye

As a child there were them times
I didn't get it
But you kept me in line
I didn't know why
You didn't show up sometimes
On Sunday mornings and I missed you
But I'm glad we talked through

All them grown folk things
Separation brings
You never let me know it
You never let it show
Because you loved me and obviously
There's so much more left to say
If you were with me today
Face to face

I never knew I could hurt like this
And everyday life goes on I wish
I could talk to you for a while
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by

And it's true that you've
Reached a better place
Still I'd give the world to see your face
And be right here next to you
But it's like you're gone too soon
Now the hardest thing to do is say

Bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye

You never got a chance to see
How good I've done
And you never got to
See me back at number one
I wish that you were here
To celebrate together
I wish that we could
Spend the holidays together

I remember when you used to
Tuck me in at night
With the teddy bear you gave me
That I held so tight
I thought you were so strong
You'd make it through whatever
It's so hard to accept the fact
You're gone forever

I never knew I could hurt like this
And everyday life goes on I wish
I could talk to you for a while
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by

And it's true that you've
Reached a better place
Still I'd give the world to see your face
And be right here next to you
But it's like you're gone too soon
Now the hardest thing to do is say

Bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye

This is for the people
Who just lost somebody
Your best friend, your baby
Your man or your lady
Put your hand way up high
We will never say bye

Mamas, daddies, sisters, brothers
Friends and cousins
This is for my peoples
Who lost their grandmothers
Lift your head to the sky
Cause we will never say bye, bye.

I never knew I could hurt like this
And everyday life goes on I wish
I could talk to you for a while
Miss you but I try not to cry
As time goes by

And it's true that you've
Reached a better place
Still I'd give the world to see your face
And be right here next to you
But it's like you're gone too soon
Now the hardest thing to do is say

Bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye, bye bye, bye bye
Bye bye