Debbie's Blatherings - by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

My friend's Celebration Of Life

1
Illustration of tall green vine with blue flowers.

This past Sunday, my husband and I attended a Celebration of Life for our friend, Reid. The term Celebration of Life was much more appropriate for this event than memorial.

Memory table covered in tribute to a friend, including a photo, t-shirts related to tech and science, tech manuals, printouts, cartoons and doodles, and D&D manuals.
Table of sentimental memorabilia beside a stand-up cardboard Superman. A real-life Superman t-shirt has been draped over his shoulders.

The memory tables were a display of so many things that Reid loved, including tech, nerdy t-shirts, role-playing game manuals, photos of loved ones, and more.

My friend Reid

My friend Reid

💔

Debbie Ridpath Ohi
My friend Reid
Decorated radiation mask beside a propped-up sign with information about the mask art.
Illustration of tall green vine with blue flowers.

I wore one of Reid's
NASA t-shirts; he loved
the idea of space
travel

Two people smiling at the camera. One is wearing an Apple t-shirt, the other is wearing a NASA t-shirt and a red cardigan.

In honour of Reid's memory, guests were encouraged to dress casually if that's what they were most comfortable wearing...Reid never liked getting dressed up.

Illustration of tall green vine with blue flowers.
Illustration of tall green vine with blue flowers.

Apple t-shirt (Reid
loved Apple tech!)

My friends & summed up some of my own feelings about the gathering:

"K and I were talking about the celebration of life tonight. As usual, we tried to talk with different groups of people so that we'd have more to share in the evening. K said she was struck by how many people credited Reid with giving them some help or advice that ended up changing their lives immeasurably for the better. It was amazing how many people came from so far away just to spend an afternoon with other people who knew Reid."

I remember looking around the room at one point, seeing family and friends reminiscing and catching up and introducing themselves, some playing board games at small tables set up for that purpose (Reid was an avid board gamer), some reading some of his old comics, others browsing the memory table and watching the slideshow of photos from his life.

And I couldn't help but think that Reid would have been pleased.

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