I performed a celebration of life ceremony this morning, for a family who wanted to start off their day with a church service and then meet with me to celebrate the life of their loved one, before paddling the ashes out to a specific spot they had in mind.

It was a short notice inquiry, at the end of a busy week, so I replied that I wasn't sure I'd be the best fit for them, if they are church goers, as I'm a humanist celebrant, and I don't usually include religious references in my services.

They hired me anyway, but didn't give me any information about the personality of the loved one who died, until 8:30pm last night. The service was to be at 11am this morning, and I do require 8 hours of sleep, so I had to work fast to come up with the right words.

The information they gave me showed an honorable man, not religious, and actually cussed like a sailor they warned me. My dad was also in the navy, so I'm not new to hearing cussing, I replied.

All that said, after my little speech, we went around the circle and everyone shared their stories of the man who had lost his battle to brain cancer far more quickly than predicted, so most of the stories were very sober, heartfelt and meaningful, from his wife, young sons, aunts, uncles, cousins.

Then came the last one to speak, the family member who hired me. He started off by saying he knows that "Julie doesn't include religious references in her service, but I just have to share why we chose this spot to scatter Victor's ashes..."

He went on to tell us the story, that when they were all out on a boat in the bay one day, suddenly Vic asked if there was a life jacket on board. They laughed it off, but finally found him a life jacket. Vic clung to that life jacket until they were past the rough spot, and the water became calm again. When they got back to land, over a few beers, they jeered Vic for fearing for his life during that rough spot. Vic replied "Well you didn't tell me you were going to take me through the Devil's anus!"

And so it was that the spot they had picked out to scatter his ashes during the paddle out was the calm spot just beyond the "Devil's Anus" which is fitting because Vic had lost his battle with glioblastoma, a particular type of brain cancer brought on by being exposed to the burn pits in Iraq. (Same brain cancer and cause as Beau Biden's death, and President Biden even extended his personal condolences to Victor's family.)

Vic had served 22 years with the Navy and several more years after advocating for veterans for suicide prevention and and also gun safety legislation.

He lost his battle with the brain cancer, which could surely be equated with the Devil's anus, so that calm spot in the bay seems like a fitting place for his ashes to rest, surrounded by the tropical beauty around him, while his legacy lives on in those he left behind.

I guess this didn't turn out to be the funny story, except that the family member equated the Devil's Anus to be a religious reference, haha!