white balloons to accompany the soul by summerfield

white balloons to accompany the soul

i attended the funeral service for the boys' other grandmother this morning. before the procession that would bring the dead's body to the crematorium, the family released several white balloons, a rite signifying farewell to the soul of the dead. for her funeral, we had queen's weather. bright sunshine, awesomely blue skies, a wisp of fresh breeze. and the balloons seemed to directly fly towards the sun.

i can'f figure out the anomaly of that one dark balloon, but my guess is that the balloon above it must have shielded it from the light of the sun. it was quite a poignant and sad rite yet at the same time, a fun one and it seemed to erase the sadness from the family members' faces.

-o0o-

this also fulfills my get pushed challenge from jackie @jackies365 that she set a few weeks back and which i wasn't able to fulfill right away. the challenge was "to do a shot about moving...moving up, moving beyond, moving past, moving out...whatever your interpretation of moving is".

also for the six-word challenge.

and to make it a three-fer, for the weekly theme sunlight.

i am behind one more get pushed response and i hope to be able to fulfill that sometime this week, too!

thank you for your kind visits and comments; know that they are truly appreciated.
My Dad told me he had read a story once, but couldn't remember where or by who, but it always stuck with him, that a. Lack balloon thT no one wanted because it wasn't bright and colorful - flew the highest because it absorbed the heat from the sun.
April 29th, 2015  
@jackie365 - finally, here's my response to your challenge.
April 29th, 2015  
Gorgeous capture!
April 29th, 2015  
Deeply touching.
April 29th, 2015  
A great part of the grieving process
April 29th, 2015  
You were right on the ball with your settings to get this quick picture - they would be gone in a minute! Odd about the black one but you would see where the sun was and if it was likely to shade that balloon. If I was otherwise than a sensible person - which i'm not - I would say that balloon signifed the one delinquent quality in her life!
And its been far outnumbered by the good qualities!
April 29th, 2015  
@maggiemae - that's a good way to put it. thank you, maggiemae.
April 29th, 2015  
What a wonderful ritual! Funerals are such solemn occasions, and I love the ones where they choose to celebrate the life of the person over the loss. You captured the spirit of it so perfectly! And, kudos on a three-for!
April 29th, 2015  
find this shot to be incredibly beautiful. very touching and well captured.
April 29th, 2015  
When I read the title I assumed that the black balloon was the soul who need accompanying. What an interpretation of the getpushed theme.
April 29th, 2015  
great shot and wow, it fits into so many themes!!
April 29th, 2015  
Great shot.
April 29th, 2015  
Nice capture and what a wonderful tribute.
April 29th, 2015  
Nice tribute
April 29th, 2015  
I like the shot of all the balloons going up- can't figure out how a white balloon would make such a dark shadow, but that must be it. Seems like a really nice way to say good-bye.
April 30th, 2015  
pretty sight! sounds like she had a nice send off. I have to say though, by way of education for anyone who's interested ---- Hopefully the balloons and strings were biodegradable. They cause a lot of damage, even death to wildlife and livestock if ingested. There are many sites with info such as this one: http://balloonsblow.org/the-ugly-truth
April 30th, 2015  
excellent three-fer, and an excellent ritual too. How are the boys holding up?
May 1st, 2015  
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