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Just a Closer Walk with Me 08/21/2011
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Jazz Funeral
A New Orleans jazz funeral procession

This has been a very topsy-turvy summer, made all the more so, by being bookended by a pair of memorial services.  The first was my grandmother's in May; and was a very small intimate affair (immediate family and staff, only) held in a mausoleum.  The latter, held this past weekend for a friend, was a decidedly celebratory tribute.

Of course, in my own self-absorbed kind of way, both had me thinking of what I want for my final send-off, and I’ve decided that I want to plan my own funeral/memorial – down to the last detail. 

SecondLine 2
A traditional second line parade section
Sure, that might sound macabre, and I suppose, in a way, it is.  However, by doing this myself, I can make sure that my family and friends need only show-up, and not be overwhelmed by the minutiae (of which there will be much).

I haven’t worked out all of the details, yet; but I know a few things.  There is going to be an open bar.  That’s a given.  Next, I’ve decided that I want a full New Orleans-style jazz funeral procession.

Live and Let Die
The eighth film in the James Bond
series, Live and Let Die was actually
Ian Fleming's second novel.
The whole shebang, with the casket in a carriage drawn by white horses, followed by a brass band, and the quintessence of a true New Orleans funeral, the second line - that fabulous conflama of criers, dancers, singers, etc.  I want the twirling parasols made of feathers, and the people in big hats, and the stilt walkers, and the women in black, keening and wailing, waving their white handkerchiefs, in the air.

This might strike some as bizarre, but I’ve always found this ceremony to be fascinating and the way it embraces not just the solemnity of death, but the joy of the life lived is something I would like my friends and family to remember.
And while many might think that it was my time spent in New Orleans while attending Tulane University, that put this idea in my head; it was actually the funeral scene in my favorite James Bond film, Live and Let Die, which sparked the idea.  Those 007 stories always were filled with style to spare.

 
 

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