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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Celebrating Life...

This may be my first sympathy card I've made, but rather making it look like all the others, with trees, sky view etc. I wanted it to be a "Celebration of Life" for the recipient. My dear neighbor and friend lost her young niece last week and I just wanted to let her know we cared and are here should she need anything. I always felt that when your heart lay still, your life should always be celebrated even in death. After I had my card made I was going to attach it to a simple floral bouquet, but decided on an Edible Arrangement...have a party in her honor! All paper is SU! and stamps are PTI. I love my Martha Stewart butterfly punch! You can punch just one or several for a 3-D effect. On a last note, I wanted to share a really cool tradition that my Husband's family shares with those family members who have passed. For those of you that may not know, my Husband is Chinese (hence the picture above...haha!) and family and afterlife are immensely important in their culture. For instance, on the anniversary of his Grandmother's death, all the family members gather at her grave site and have a BIG celebration (compared to American culture!) in honor of her life. First, red incense are lit around the grave site and paper money (it has gold leaf on one side) is burned for wealth. Food is also brought to the grave site, duck, wine, fruit and cake. Not only is his Grandmother served, but they also cut a small slice for her neighbors and share!! Once the celebration is thru, the incense and ashes from the money are disposed of, however the food that has been sliced and served stays at the gravesite. The first time I went, it brought me to tears! Even though I may have a language barrier with his parents, I was overwhelmed by how gracious and amazing this tradition truly is! This all leads me to believe that when my time comes, not only will I be spoiled by my children, BUT I will also be well fed:).

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I want to be your neighbor when we move onto our second lives, ok? : )
That card is really precious, Dawney!
I love you,
T

Michelle said...

Dawn,
The traditions in asian culture truly do honor family. It is awesome. Asian cultures do a much better job of honor its elders and its dead that many. Beautiful tradition.. would have made me weepy too.

Love Ya,
Mishy

Isabel Z said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's loss. I'm sure that celebrating her niece's life in the way that you did will bring your friend a little comfort and knowing that you care.
My grandfather was Chinese but I only met him once since he lived in South America. I know very little about his culture so it's nice to learn something new. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful tradition and how nice for you daughters to be able to share in it.

Sharon said...

I learned of this tradition from a Japanese freind in Hawaii I had seen the table settings with oranges and other foods on graves at the Punch Bowl cemetary she explained it to me the she said "Seems Strange to you , right? and I said yeah pretty much and you do know that the stuff is removed from the graves by the grounds keeper dont you? and not taken by the deceased? Then we laughed