Widow stories about funerals from the book "The Sisterhood of Widows".   There is no "sacred cow" when it comes to funerals and more people are adding their own special and personal touches to the funerals of their loved ones. Chapter Two He was cremated and when his ashes went out in the river everything was very organized.  In the boat was the Minister, our daughters, his brother and the driver of the boat.    Everyone else was on shore with me.  The bag piper played Amazing Grace and the lay reader did the reading.  We didn’t tell too many people, but most of the family and all the casket bearers were there because we did it right after the funeral.  My friend, Eve, found a picture of the actual river area where Dave’s ashes went and I have it hanging in the house.   Chapter Three Our grandson, Lee, really loved his grandfather because he was here every day after school.  I wasn’t sure how Lee was going to be at the funeral parlor.  Jack did a lot with Lee and taught him how to play the piano. When people came in Lee would take them over to the casket and talk to them about his grandfather.  Seeing how well Lee was doing was medicine to me. Lee bought a screwdriver and sockets set and put them in his grandfather’s pocket.  He would touch Jack and I thought it was good because when I was young I was terrified of dead people.  Lee doesn’t have that fear.   Chapter Five The children wrote letters to their father and put them in the casket.  John’s letter said, “It was almost like you knew what would happen because you taught me so much. Now I can help Mom.”   Liz’s letter talked about her love for him and how she would miss him.   Chapter Eight We had a dog that my husband loved that had recently died and was cremated.  When Ted died we had the dog’s ashes buried with him.  They were always together and it gave me a sense of peace to have them buried together. All Ted wanted was an Irish wake because we had gone to one at one time.  So we decided to have a garage party like an Irish wake.  It was standing room only with some people outside.  Ted would have been as proud as could be to see everyone.  The party went on until about one o’clock in the morning.  They went around the table and did a toast to Ted.   Chapter Fifteen My first marriage was bad, but I had my lovely Rose.   She had cerebral palsy and she loved people and loved to go to outings.  Rose was thirty-eight when she died from a problem with her heart valves.  When Rose passed away we went out to her favorite restaurant and there was an elderly couple there celebrating a birthday.  We paid for their meal because Rose would have loved that. She was always thinking of other people and loved to do things that would surprise and touch them.