I was disappointed with the article by Daniel Mooney entitled “Helping Ideas Take Flight.” (July 2 Kent Reporter.)
Good humor is a wonderful gift, but i felt Mr. Mooney’s choice of the phrase “kick the bucket” was not in good taste. For parents who have had a SIDS death of a child, others who lost an elementary-school-aged child due to an accident, for those who had to deal with the suicide death of a confused teenager or the loss of a beloved spouse, I can’t imagine that “kicking the bucket” was helpful expression of the tragedy they are probably still trying to get over.
People need to mourn and deal with the passage of heir loved one(s). If denial takes over, the survivors often go into depression or other problems arise.
I will never forget being in a community where a confused teenager made a bad choice for himself and his family and friends. He hung himself. The school district meant well by offering the school gym for a “celebration of his life.” The place was packed – no mention of the tragedy but upbeat music and student presentations by many who hardly knew the deceased.
Other kids were impressed by the attention this teenager received in death (not in life). That week two other students did themselves in – those who probably knew at last they would get some attention.
Since that experience I have not heard of any school district that has allowed such funeral “celebrations” on the school campus. (I still wonder how we “celebrate” a life that really never got to live a full life.)
After more than 40 years as clergy person I have never been disappointed by the compassionate service of any of our local, family-operated funeral homes in south King County.
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