My own 'take' on funerals (besides the fact that I don't like them)

Sorry, 'Memorial services', not funerals.
Some people may find this rambling, some might be spurred to anger or express surprise, but my whole purpose is to relate my thoughts on the subject and as a secondary purpose, get you to think, to feel, and to get off your duff and do something BEFOREHAND.
Ahem.

What GOOD are funerals? What’s the whole point to them? (Besides keeping the flower and kleenex industries florishing)
A bunch of people get together that the deceased may or (probably) may not have seen for years, to say goodbye to a shell of a person that they could’ve said something to in life.
We see people daily-friends, relatives, coworkers, acquaintances during our days, people who could, in some way, be taken from us in a flash. But do we say anything to them or recognize them for their contributions (however small) to our lives? NO, we don’t. Do we feel guilty that we weren’t as ‘nice’ or caring or even friendly to the deceased, even if we didn’t want to be?
Why don’t we SAY something?

We cry at funerals; WHY? Is it for the deceased and their family and friends, or is it for ourselves, that another person is taken from us, from our lives? Do we cry and feel pity for the families that have to work through their grief, or is it a premature pity for ourselves for when we will have to go through it? What are the emotions that we feel obligatory to experience, either silently or not? Sadness that they’re gone, happiness that they’ve presumably gone to a better place, or both? Happy that the deceased doesn’t have to deal with the hassles of life? What about agnostics or atheists?

Now, personally speaking, I’m really not a religious person.
I don’t go to church but I do pray daily:
I don’t tithe to any religion but I do help the needy:
I don’t sing hymns on Sundays, but rather have a constant, joyous song in my heart.
I WILL and DO say “Amen” not only whenever a prayer is offered up to Our Heavenly Father, but also to acknowledge the prayer’s sentiment and truth.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that BEFORE you go to a funeral next, think about how people fit into your life, what you’d like to say to them before something happens, and how you yourself will be remembered.

To answer my own question, “What good are funerals and what’s their point?” I say for you to remind yourself that we canNOT choose how or when we die, but we CAN choose how we live. Funerals remind us of that fact, rub our noses in it.

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*Oh, yeah...when you've been to as many funerals as I have and have been the Estate Administrator 3X in your life at ages 18, 23 and 46, you begin to HATE the smell of fresh flowers.

*We need to stop a tradition-the tradition of wearing black at a funeral. At least in summer.

*When I pass on, I hope it'll be around Thanksgiving. People have more time off, and the garage sale of my things will make nice gifts for others at Christmas.

*Some people I know want to be cremated and then their ashes spread