simon’s funeral

a beautiful celebration of a wise, young soul

Simon died on a summer’s day in 2019 at the age of 19 after being diagnosed with a terminal illness in his early teens. He lived life with courage, strength and resilience and shared so much joy and laughter with those he met. He made people’s day with his generous, warm smile and inspired many with his wise insights.

Simon’s parents wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life. Warm, colourful, creative, engaging. Just like he was.

They chose sunflowers as a reminder of his sunny character. We lit a candle for his life. Family members and friends shared memories and stories about Simon and how he had touched people’s lives. We wrote personal messages, which we placed on the coffin to go with him.

Simon was a gifted thinker and writer and we read a selection of his haikus. One of them was called ‘Friendship’:

Presents from my friends
The present above them all –
The gift of friendship

Simon loved science fiction and fantasy films. During the service we played music from a selection of his favourite movies. At the heart of the service, we did a ribbon ritual inspired by a scene from the ‘The Guardians of The Galaxy’.

Simon’s mother Elke had prepared ribbons in different colours, representing all the different people Simon had met during his life. Everyone was invited to choose a ribbon to place on his coffin and to cut off a small piece to keep. A ritual of letting go and holding on.

At the time of committal, Simon’s mother and sister pressed the button to send him off while we all paid respect to him with the ‘Guardian of The Galaxy’ greeting: we put our right fists on our hearts, two times.

The crematorium staff had allowed a light to be lit behind the committal doors, creating an orange glow.

Simon moved towards the light.

The story of Simon’s funeral has been shared with the kind permission of his family to show others that beautiful and meaningful funerals are possible. The words were written by celebrant Rosalie Kuyvenhoven.

Funeral arranged by Poetic Endings
Ceremony by Rosalie Kuyvenhoven, Rituals Today
Flowers by the Fresh Flower Company
Photography by Tim Dirven