![]() That's just two per cent of funeral services in the province, but the number is growing quickly, Parcher says. Humanists in Ontario perform roughly 1,000 such ceremonies every year in Ontario. "Life's significance lies in the experiences and satisfactions in that span of time. Its permanence lies in the memories of those who knew us." "Life exists in the time period between birth and death," Parcher told those at the cottage that day. ![]() ![]() The words he chose during the service were designed to bring comfort, he says, but not to suggest there's anything more beyond human existence. "There's no father up in the sky taking care of things for us," he adds. "We have to take care of ourselves." "We don't tell people they'll have life after they die in heaven, but we do tell them they will continue in memories, which they will," says Parcher. Simon Parcher, an officiant with Humanist Canada, performed the service and says in an increasingly secular world, God is being pushed aside, even in death. It was something he could feel comfortable with." "I think John would have loved this because he wasn't a religious man," says Marie Diane Dodd. What wasn't part of the ceremony was any mention of God or religion. There were happy photos from summer holidays and sentimental recollections from friends and his children about a life well lived, before it was tragically cut short by liver disease brought on by Hepatitis C. It featured John's favourite memories and music, including a guitar riff by Jimi Hendrix. So she arranged a ceremony at the family's lakeside summer home outside Ottawa. When the sad time came to say good-bye to her late husband, Marie Diane Dodd knew a traditional service in a church wasn't the right fit.
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