Viking Funeral

One of my very favorite movies is Rocket Gibraltar. The story goes something like this. A landmark birthday party is being thrown for Levi Rockwell, played with a twinkle in his eye and genuine warmth by Burt Lancaster, by his children and grandchildren. During a wonderful scene where Levi walks at night on the beach with all eight of his grandchildren (including an adorable 7yo Macaulay Culkin), he regales them with a tale describing a Viking funeral. I'm not telling you any more about the movie. Watch it yourself. It's wonderful. I had the pleasure of watching Rocket Gibraltar with my mother several years ago. She was a full-blooded Norwegian, and at least seemed to enjoy it, if only for the fact that she liked Burt Lancaster. In her generation, he was a hottie. I'm inclined to agree. When Mom died, not quite two months ago, I thought of how my siblings and I had joked with her about giving her a Viking Funeral send-off. She liked the idea, complete with including her yard swing, which had baked in the Arizona sun for over twenty years, as tinder for the fire. Part of me wishes we'd been able to do that for her. But maybe we still can. My sister, Martine, will have to be in agreement on this, and I'm not sure what the appropriate setting would be...but wouldn't it be great to build a miniature Viking boat, sprinkle it with some of Mom's ashes, set it on fire and launch it out onto a lake! It seems like a proper end of life ceremony for her. And I think she would approve.