Celebrating the Life of a Loved One

A couple weekends ago, my family and I traveled to Traverse City to meet with relatives on my mom's side and have a memorial for my grandfather who passed away in December.  It was a beautiful weekend full of smiles, laughs, and a few tears.  It was wonderful to see relatives I hardly see and get to hear the stories and memories they have of my Grandpa Steve.  I also couldn't have asked for a better ending to the memorial than the lantern ceremony we had on Saturday night.  Watching the lanterns float away and seeing my grandfather's name on them made me feel so honored to have everyone gathered around to remember his life and how loved he was.  Everyone was so glad to be reunited again that we even planned to meet in the same place again for another little shindig, this time not waiting for a "reason" to get together.  It is amazing how life can pass us by and we forget about those we don't see every day.  Unfortunately, it is often death that brings us together with our relatives as we mourn together.  The memorial we had, however, while making it all seem too real, also felt more like a celebration and remembrance of life rather than a time for sadness and longing for our family member back.