A Celebration of Life

My dad was a showman, and every show he put on was full of laughter and stories, and one always went home wanting to be a better person.  We wanted to put on his last "show". 

We chose not to use the word funeral - too sad.  We called it "A Celebration of Life".  We had about 25-30 pictures of my dad's life blown up to poster size hanging down the church hall.  There were three long tables loaded with paraphernalia - the first was titled "Professional Life", the second was titled, "Family Life" and the third, "Personal Life".  I wish I had taken some pictures.  Here are a few of the pictures, though, that lined the hallway:

I didn't end up with any of the pictures of him and his wife, Babs.  There were lots of those too.

The chapel service had been created by my dad before his death.  His brother, a professional friend and Babs spoke, and Mitch, Nate and I stood together at the microphone taking turns talking about things we had remembered or learned from him.  All were full of stories and jokes and laughter.  It was so much fun.  There were also three amazing musical numbers.  By dad would have LOVED it.

After, we all moved back to the social hall where we had tables set up with Bronco decor and had chocolate chip cookies and milk and root beer floats, both of my dad's favorites.  And we had an open mic where people could come share their stories about my dad.  We limited it to an hour and a half - it could have gone on much longer.

One of my dad's STARS lives in Seattle and has these three beautiful daughters.  We would visit them every time my dad was in town.  The whole family came to the funeral and the three 'big' sisters took great delight in our three 'small sisters'.

Afterward my dad's surviving brothers and their wives, and our immediate family, gathered for dinner and more memories.  We all processed the day together.

I knew that my dad was a well-loved man, and that he had changed the lives of thousands of people, but I still marveled at how devoted they were to him.  Hundreds flew in for the funeral, and hundreds took the time to share their memories on a Facebook page called Howard Brinton's Legacy.   They were from all stages of his life.  At the funeral I met my dad's childhood friends and high-school buddies that I heard about growing up, softball team members from Colorado drove over, one of his YM from his early days as a youth leader, his competitors in the industry who were all close friends came, hundreds of his STARS, etc.  It was overwhelming and beautiful to see the outcome of a life of good works.

Thankfully these people expressed this love and devotion before my dad died.  Friends were always flying to Utah to take him to dinner, or on little road trips full of adventures, arranging for a personal chef when he became to weak to be his own, making videos and showing them at various conventions where my dad would be present, throwing big birthday parties for him and all flying in to celebrate with him - he knew he had made a difference.

And then life goes on for all of us.  Strange how one man's amazingly successful mortal journey comes to an end and the rest of us wake up, make breakfast and go on with our busy lives.  But one thing is for certain, everyone who attended his "last show" went on with their lives wanting to be a little more like Howard Brinton.