The discussion from the previous thread, made me think about openin' a new thread to discuss this. I think all photos are up for scrapping, including Funerals, however i'm sure some of you have some photos where the caskets are open. The way i feel about these photos, if they are scrapped, I would be selective who see's the scrapbook. I'm very careful because some, not only children, become very upset over these. I try to keep these type of photos in a special black box, where they can be seen, however put up so the kids can't see them. Thru genealogy (where many photos of open caskets are shot) & old photos, i've seen people become very disturbed and find them very distasteful. so ....how 'bout sharing with me how you handle these.

i scrapped pictures from my father in laws memorial service - have never took any pictures at funerals

You know I've only a couple of people very close to me pass away... I was quiet old (30's) LOL when the first and it was a very revealing time for me. We are Christians and I realized that the body was left and the spirit of the person was gone to be with our Lord. I realized that it was the spirit that makes the body who they were.!

This is a close subject to me my Dad just passed away. I had my camera... I didn't take any pictures. I'm going to scrap his obituary and a picture of how I remember him not the funeral it self.

That's how I'm going to do it and why.

Clarinda

I guess it would never occur to me to take a photo of somebody in a casket, but I might consider taking photos of flowers, etc and scrap them. But I did not do that when my Mama died, but for my family reunion album (Mama's extended family) I have scrapped the obits and maybe some photos of when the person was alive. If I had a photo of an open casket I would probably put it behind a "door" or something and make it clear what it was so that a person could open it or not.

I had photos of my grandson when he was first born and showing off everything he had and I made the page, then covered it with a fairly heavy colored vellum so you could kind of see what it was but it was not so blatant.

Sorry to hear of your recent loss of your dad.

I feel about the same way the others do. I would rather scrap photos of the people I love as I would want to remember them by...alive. Just think of how you would feel if someone took a pic of you laid out in a casket, your makeup was probably not done they way you liked it. I have a mental picture of both my grandmothers left to me from when I saw them at age 5, that's all I want to remember about that. I think it would be fine to take pictures of the chapel or church and the flowers, and maybe even just the casket, but not the contents. That's just my feelings, I'm sure there are people who would say it's ok. I think it is up to the scrapper what to do.
My sympathys to all who have gone through these sad times, time can only heal the wounds.

This is rather personable to me. I think this a generation thing. My parents and my husbands parents always took 100's of pictures of the open casket, the funeral, etc. I never understood why. I remember,as a child, having to parade through the line to "veiw" my grandfather's body in a casket, and hear wailing, and moaning, and "Oh, doesn't he look so real" He didn't look "real" to me, he looked dead!

I have left specific instructions that there is not to be a 'funeral', but rather a memorial and celebration of life, with champagne, and toasts to the good life I have had and how blessed with a wonderful hubby and 2 of the most wonderful children and 4 wonderful grandchildren, and a God that is saving a place for me. What more could one ask for? No Camers allowed!

I agree this is a sad subject, but being into genealogy & Collecting so many old, old pictures, it is quite common to come upon these photos. Many Parents often took photos of their children before burial. They say it's a reminder that they actual had been a part of their lives. Photos were rare. Also, I face these from the different country's our family's came from. It upsets me to view them, that is why I keep them seperate from my albums.

I have scrapped several funerals and memorials "In Memory Of". I did have one photo that someone took of my Mom in her casket and I couldn't and wouldn't do that one, so I gave it to my neice who wanted it. But I had some of the people and after the burial and did scrap those. I didn't take the photo's, someone else did and gave me some.

I did scrap my SIL's memorial but not the service, just the people after it was over.
I had some very old negatives that I didn't know what ot who or anything, took them to Walmart, they developed them and it was of one of my great aunts in her casket and funeral service. I did scrap that one too.
I had some photo's of my Dad's grave too that I scrapped.

I think it's a good thing to scrap funerals of the ones you love. You can remember all the relatives and friends that came and how many love the one who died. I am thankful for the photo's I have. I have made some pretty LO's using them and I don't think it's improper to do it.

This is a very touching discussion.

We moved from the northern US to the southern US when I was just about to start middle school. I had never seen an open casket at any of the family funerals I had attended up north. I made a good friend shortly after moving to the south and her family graciously invited me to dinner one night. I sat down at the dinner table, we said grace and I looked up at a religious print in a frame next to the table and in the corner was tucked a photo of an older woman in a casket. I said nothing then but asked my friend about it later. She told me it was her grandmother. It is something that stays with me more than 30 years later! I have since learned that this is common in the rural south where we happened to move and saw it again several times in other families, that the family used this method to remember their loved one.

I don't wish to remember my loved ones in this manner but I do respect the traditions of others. I love the suggestions above to preserve these memories in a tasteful way that protects the more sensitive viewers.

That being said, I was recently sent a link by a friend for photographers that will donate their time to photograph babies that die before, during or shortly after birth. At first this was a scary thought to me but upon looking at the photo samples, I found it very beautiful. The photos were so touching and offered the parents beautiful memories that they might forget in their grief. I was moved by the photographers willing to donate their time to help these families come out of the experience with something more than the grief.

Perhaps my opinions are that, for someone who filled my life with good memories, such as a grandparent, I want to remember them in those moments, not the funeral. For babies with whom no or few memories could be made, photos would offer a way to relate and extend the beauty of their presence. Just my opinion, and I respect all of your opinions.

If I decided to have photos of ANY dead loved ones taken I would think they would deserve to be scrapbooked.

You are right, it is more traditional here in the south. At least we are past the days when I was a child and whenever someone died they brought the casket and body to the house for people to come in - same as a viewing in a funeral home now. Glad that is not how they do things now.

Also, my mom and dad had 3 girls, but their first baby was full term, but a still birth. My mom, of course during that period of time, was still int he hospital for the funeral, but we have a picture of my dad holding my little brother in a white blanket and it is so special to me.

Guess I have mixed emotions about all of this. I do have pictures of my mother-in-law, mainly because I'm a scrapping fanatic and, to me, I think of the life they lived, not the empty body that is there before me. I kind of liked the idea some had to hide the photos on the page, but go ahead and use them in your memories of the funeral or memorial service.

I feel this is up to the person/family if they want photos.

Personally, I don't think I could do the open casket. I would be open to the pictures of the funerals....I want to remember the person as they were alive.

My grandmother, who passed away at 100 a few years ago, had so many pictures through out the years of funerals, headstones, but not open casket. As a young child, when I looked through her photo albums, I didn't like it. But it was special to her. I was able to pick out pictures when Grandma passed away. As I didn't know who the people were, I didn't take those....if it was someone I knew...I may have.

Another story....

My sister in law's had pictures of her father in law's funeral last year and her camera was stolen with the pictures on it. These were the only pictures taken. She and her husband was devastated of the theft as these were the only pictures of the funeral and the last respects.

So.....it depends on the person and how they feel about it

All these postings are so true.Its a generations thing for sure,,I can remember going through my grandmothers albums and seeing a picture of a cousin who passed as a child.This happened right before I was born(Im 46 )I can remember seeing the picture of her and the funeral was in the home back then,,in Harlan Kentucky.Times change though,,Ii have never been to a funeral and seen any pictures taken.I do have a scrapbook page of my brothers grandson who passed at 28days old.I have a thankyou card and the little card they give you at the funeral,a picture of him alive with my nephew holding him.But no pictures of after it happened.Same with my mom,,I have pictures with us around her bed weeks before it happened,,but that all.I thik its more of a preference,,how people are raised,,some accept it,,some dont.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: OhioDonna,

I've just begun work on my first daughter's scrapbook. She passed away several years before I ever knew what scrapbooking was. I do have pictures from the funeral home and the service, and I will scrap them. I will keep that book a little more private though. Primarily just close family who really knew her. It can be a tough thing to see, especially for children.

I lost my only sibling 2 years ago to a motorcycle accident. I have since made a memorial album with pictures form when he and I were small to him with my kids his hobbies and interests there are pictures in it of the accident site the police report and coroners report also there are letters in it from many friends and family members of special times they spent with him and thoughts they have also many of them added a paragraph about what they would like to do with him or tell him if they had one more day with him. It is a beautiful rememberance of my brother. Also each friend or family member also added a picture of themselves and some with them and my brother together.

This topic has been so timely for me. The last couple of weeks have been really hard ones for my family. My mother-in-law had a fall on May 14 and was hospitalized, then put into a nursing home for rehab. Her dementia really did a down spiral and we had her transferred to a nursing home closer to us. The progression of the dementia was so fast, we couldn't believe it. So, we were dealing with that for the past couple of weeks. On Sunday morning my son's best friend (only 36) was killed in an accident on his way to work. He was on his motorcycle and an 80 yr. old man pulled out in front of him to make a turn. There was nothing that he could have done. The sadness of that had not even begun to settle in when we received word early Monday morning that my mother-in-law had taken a turn during the night. A couple of hours later she died. Needless to say, it has been a very emotional week for us. Dave's mother's funeral was yesterday. Today was Matt's. I had thought about taking my camera, but after reading what you all had to say, I decided that I didn't really want to do that for either funeral. I want to thank everyone who posted to this question. Your comments were a big help in making that decision.

Pam

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mkpam,

Pam, I am so sorry for all the sorrow in your family. You will be in my prayers.

I have never scrapped a funeral but funerals are as much about life as are weddings. Guess we are all a little gun shy about scraping them.
Katherine

We have several friends and family that have passed away this year and I too scrap the obituaries, along with pictures of them when they were alive. Then I go back to where they lived, usually when there for funeral, and see if there are any old newspaper articles about them or go to the court house and find open records about them like land or houses they may have owned and then take pictures of houses and land. I have gotten my father to take me to old houses he was raised up in and if they have not been torn down we have taken pictures of them. I am fixing to do the same with my mom. I still have my grand mothers but their minds are not good so I am just taking as many pictures of them as I can now with family. I also let the families know if anyone passed away and no one wanted them I either want the family photo albums, they know I scrap so they will either give me the pictures or let me copy.

Marie

It looks like we all have our own way dealing with grief scrapping. I'm into theme scrappin' so the good lives with the bad.