Life in the Garden

Matters of Life and Death

celebration of life memorial service

The Brief Life of Khighla Parks

The memorial service for 15 year old Khighla Parks (pronounced Kyla) was held in our area this week.  Khighla was loved in her community and went missing for several days and her body was found by fisherman in Truman Lake. Khighla loved horses and was buried in the cemetery where she used to go for a quiet moment to talk to God.

Khighla ParksA Celebration of Life ceremony was held and a horse drawn wagon delivered her casket to the cemetery where she was laid to rest. “I don’t believe this is goodbye,” said the Rev. Scotty Killingsworth. “I believe this is good night, so long, see you later.”

A couple of observations about the media coverage. Once again the word “funeral” was never mentioned by any of the outlets covering the event. I understand that the television stations have to make a dollar, but monetizing the video clip of the funeral with advertising seems inappropriate. In fact, the only time I can remember that a news video on one particular station did not have an ad attached to it was for a memorial created for the Joplin tornado victims.

Regardless, we’re sending out prayers to the family and hope law enforcement can resolve the many questions and bring peace to the family.

Celebration of Life Is the New Funeral

In addition to the back yard memorial service last weekend for my friend Don, another service was held at one of the local churches for a father and his three children.  The Lambert’s and a family friend, Robin Melton were killed in a plane crash returning from a KC Royal’s ball game. The loss rocked the community. A Celebration of Life unfolded in the church with plenty of photos and flowers. Several of the children’s teachers, friends, and family members spoke and the theme was clear: Make Every Moment Count.

Ms. Melton’s service was held in a conference room at Bass Pro Shops and was open to the public, with a separate visitation scheduled the next day at the funeral home and a grave site service the following day. Both Mr. Lambert and Ms. Melton were leaders in the community and larger venues were needed to accommodate the mourners.

In all the media coverage of these events, the word funeral was never mentioned. Actually, the only time the word appeared was if the funeral home was mentioned. Is the word “funeral” on the way to becoming an old-world term? Even the word “mourners” is starting to sound archaic and contradicts the Celebrate Life concept.