Dearly Departed

Departures was a totally emotional film, at least for me, I cried many times throughout. It had some great comedic moments sprinkled in that were amusing.

My favorite parts of the movie were probably two moments where the families of the departed were joyful despite the sorrow of the departure. One moment where the granddaughter of the deceased offered socks to put on her body commenting that their grandma always wanted to wear socks like theirs, and they cheerily said goodbye to her, there was no intense heartbreak, but a joyful send off. The other moment was when the daughter gave her father a kiss, leaving her lipstick mark on his forehead, causing the granddaughter and mother to laugh and all give him lipstick kisses as well.

I've always thought that death should be experienced in this way, sorrowful of the leave, but joyful in what was. I've always said I don't want people to have a funeral when I die, I want them to have a joyous celebration. I can't say I can speak clearly on how death should be celebrated, many people experience these emotions differently, and since I've never experienced the death of someone close to me I can't really speak truly on the matter.

My great-grandmother died this past year (or perhaps it was the year before that) and it did not affect me, but I had time to come to terms with any little sorrow I might've had on the matter when we visited her during her final days at the old folks home, and I didn't actually experience the service as I was sick the entire time. A part of me feels I wouldn't've been too upset over the matter, my great-grandmother was a very compassionate Christ-follower, and I know I'll meet her in Heaven when the time comes.

I've always felt death should not just be sadness and pain, we'll miss them, but we should also celebrate the life they had, the memories, and the fact that they're joining our Father in Heaven, and we will one day meet again.

As far as the movie, there was a mention by the cremator, of death being a "Gateway" and just another part of life, and once you pass through death you move onto the next thing. He said he liked to say "Goodbye, I'll see you again one day" to those being cremated. This was a nice echo of a somewhat Christian view-point.