A one-stop handbook for a situation more and more of us are facing as we grow older.Memorial services are becoming more common than funerals and serve a somewhat different purpose: less a rite for the soul of the person who has died than a celebration by and for the living of the life of the person being honored. They are an important way of saying goodbye but most of us are not quite sure how to proceed when the task of organizing one falls to us.This sourcebook offers suggestions and descriptions of various kinds of services, including appropriate selections of music, poetry, and prose. It gives a historical overview of funeral and memorial service traditions throughout the world, advice on the participation of clergy or spiritual leaders, and explains how to write a eulogy, balance the segments of the service, set the scene with flowers, photos, and personal mementos, deal with group tragedies, and bring closure to the celebration with food, drink, and companionship.There are many books on death and dying, grieving, the funeral process, and anthologies of suitable readings, and there are few self-help workbooks on funeral-.