My father's side of the family are all Mennonites, which is an orthodox Christian sect. One of the things that they do at all family get-togethers (including funerals) that could be transferrable to any other family's gatherings is story-telling. Everyone gets up and tells a favourite family story about the person(s) being celebrated/remembered.

At our wedding, the guests were a challenging diverse mixture of people...French Catholic, English Protestant, Mennonite and fervant atheists...but we managed to put together a ceremony that touched and included everyone there.

At the reception, since 3/4 of the guests couldn't participate in a dance, we had "story-telling" instead. We were worried that non-family members would get bored, but they all got into the spirit of the story-telling as well. It ended up being a lot of fun and very warm and intimate...people often tell us that it remains one of their favourite weddings they've ever attended.

We ended up doing the "story-telling" thing when my Mom died. And Mom/Dad stories are still the heart and center of our family reunions. The more stories we hear, the more stories we crave to hear.

I don't know if "story-telling" would fit within your own family culture, but it's another idea to consider.

[ August 27, 2005, 03:51 PM: Message edited by: Eagle Heart ]