Today in Heath Ledger's hometown, 600 people came out to mourn and celebrate the late actor's life. The invite only ceremony included family and friends, but no baby Matilda. Songs were sung including a lullaby by Ben Harper called Happily Ever After in Your Eyes written for Matilda per Heath's request almost two years ago. The family and Cate Blanchett spoke as well as Michelle Williams who read Shakespeare's, Sonnet 18, you know, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day." After the sad ceremony, the mood changed as 50 of the friends, including Michelle, ran onto a beach with (and some without) their clothes on. Here are more details of the celebration, which finally produced some smiles that would have made Heath proud:
Those in the water laughed and cheered as Michelle watched from the shore. Ledger's sister Kate also took a dive into the water and was surrounded by pals splashing around her while her father Kim Ledger watched from the restaurant's balcony and shouted, "Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!" giving two thumbs up in the air.
As the sun began to set, the swimmers came on shore and stood in a line on both sides of Williams and linked arms. In the last five minutes, as the sun moved toward the horizon, the mourners stood in silence, watching and embracing. Williams hugged Kate Ledger and smiled as she watched the sunset at 8:15 p.m., local time. Two mourners in the group summoned up the moment as they stood behind Williams. "The sun goes down on our love," they said. "But it will never go down on Heathy."
As saddening as this whole thing has been, it is so sweet to finally see some smiles. Michelle clearly has an excellent support system and we hope she and the rest of Heath's family continues to mourn in peace as well as slowly learn to smile again.
Twenty8Twelve
Benefit
Comme des Garcons
what an invasion of privacy
1what a beautiful celebration of life.
2That must have been a beautiful ceremony
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3How beautiful. I think more funerals should be like this... mourn the loss AND celebrate the life.
4I agree, badkitty. That truly is a beautiful celebration.
5That is an amazing funeral. Just the way Heath would have wanted it. It doesn't look like it was an invasion of privacy. I think these pictures were taken by the local media that was allowed by family. When I pass away I want my funeral to be like this. Happiness with a bit of melancholy.
6This is amazing. I'm happy for them.
7That's so beautiful.
8We miss you Heath
Sounds beautiful.
9This is wonderful. A celebration of life, rather than a mourning of death! Beautiful.
10Goodbye Heath, we miss you.
11What a beautiful thing to do! I'm tearing up again
Rest in peace Heath 
12awwww it is a beautiful ceremony for heath =)
13reading the story brought tears to my eyes. a beautiful way to celebrate his life
14thats brilliant, such a amazingly lovely celebration, i bet he would have been really humbled. i hope things will get much happier for matilda and michelle.
15It seems that Heath as the human was very special and very loved, above and beyond what we know of him as an actor. What a warm, sincere farewell.
I hope the family allowed the photos and it wasn't an invasion of privacy.
16what an amazing and beautiful tribute to Heath. His family and friends were able to say goodbye in a touching and meaningful way that he would truly appreciate.
17That was so beautiful!! I think he would have loved it.
18I agree that it is a beautiful celebration of life, but I also think it is in poor taste to post those pictures. I'm disappointed that you posted these, Sugar!
19sorry hzyelle but i have to disagree. not everyone wants a "funeral" when they die. I most certainly would not want my family crying over some cold grave, I would much prefer what Heaths family did, which is celebrate the time they had together and remember all of the happiness. that is what my family did for my mom when she passed away. we had a wonderful party and shared stories and memories and sang her favorite songs. It was awesome and it was just what she would have wanted.
20hzyelle, they were celebrating the life he had. the wonderful person and father he was. your comment is extremely bizarre IMHO...and uncalled for. A funeral or memorial service is for the living to mourn and celebrate the life of their loved one. Everyone does it differently. No one way is right or wrong.
I thought it was a beautiful way to celebrate Heath and the person he was.
21thats so sweet. I'm glad to see some light shine on this family's life. I agree with you badkitty, I'm sure Heath's up there saying stop crying already lol the celebration of his life is of much more significance than his death. I'm happy for them. looked like a beautiful ceremony
22and i think after this they should move on. I'd love to see this whole thing end on a happy note.
23What a beautiful celebration. That makes me smile to see all these people brought together by their love for a single person, and to see that love pour out like that! Beautiful.
24Awwww! This is really beautiful! He obviously had a GREAT family who Loved him dearly!
25the pictures of all the people on the beach are so beautiful. it really gives me hope that its going to be okay and life does go on. and its so nice to see some pics of michelle smiling. obviously shes in mourning and will be for a very long time, but its nice to see that she and heath's family seem to have so many good friends to lean on for support.
26Soo wonderful!
Reminds me of the "celebrations" surfers give each other.
Ever seen a surfer's funeral, it beautiful!
27What a beautiful ceremony.Not everyone wants a depressing funeral.It's good to celebrate the person's life after they pass.
28so beautiful. i have a feeling that a celebration like this will enable heath's relatives to "move on" more easily...i don't even know him or his family, but it even makes me feel more at ease with his passing.
29What a beautiful send off.
30That is such a beautiful thing!
I am SO MAD at the paparazzi for invading their privacy. Kinda disappointed with Pop for posting them as well...maybe just the story would have been enough.
31Seriously hzyelle?
I think what they did is wonderful, appropriate, and beautiful! I have been to both kinds of 'funerals' and believe me the ones that celebrate the life the deceased had are so much more beautiful. Yes, they need to mourn, but not everyone mourns in the same way!
Whenever I pass I want my family to celebrate the time I had on earth and the love and family and friends I was able to have and enjoy.
32for that person who said theyre just looking for some reason to party is the most stupid thing i read today. im sure theyre really trying hard to be happy in the most saddest time for they want this to be a celebration to heath's life and he would have wanted like this. im sure if heath saw all his loved one crying over him he would be so sad.
33i dont think its an invision of privacy i think they let the photographers to be there to share this to those who also felt the lost of heath. his fans.
34I'm glad they sad good bye in such a beautiful way
35i agree with twinkle, it looks like they're being positive
36Wow I'm sorry but I think its truly disgusting that you posted this. Let them mourn in peace. Yes it looks like they are having a good time buts its horrid the paps showed up and then let alone websites plastering them all over there websites. gross.
37I just wanted to point that CNN.com used these same pictures. Are you going to read them the riot act, too?
38This is great. His father said that the outpouring of grief and support from the public have helped the family. I think that he knows that a lot of people who never knew Heath were very upset by his death. Seeing these pictures makes me feel a little better. I hope everyone can find some peace sometime soon.
39I think it's pretty obvious that the family allowed pictures to be taken of their memorial. They knew there would be a frenzy, and so they decided to not have their moment ruined by crazy paparazzi.
Could you imagine if they tried to keep this ceremony private? There's NO WAY. Think about it. There would be paps in the bushes, in the water on boats, flying helicopters overhead...the moment would be ruined. C'mon people. This was an attempt by the family to NOT HAVE THAT HAPPEN. They don't look disturbed by the photographers being there.
Its a fact that as a celeb you have to either give up a bit of your privacy, or be hounded nonstop. It looks like they found a happy medium.
40This is so sweet, but I refuse to look at all the pictures because I want to give her some privacy.
41Losing someone is hard, and ultimately the own things you have left of them is good memories. Grieving is certainly very important, but if you stay in a state of grief forever, you're not doing what your deceased loved one wanted. Heath certainly didn't want his family, friends, and fans to mourn his death, he would want them to celebrate his life and how much he ment to them and how much they ment to him. This was a beautiful tribute, and I would think wice about what you are saying Hzyelle, before you post any more "bizzare" and "crazy" comments.
42Twice*
43i will ignore Hzyelle ...
44i will just say :RIP Heath,you were a Heaven sent---> http://youtube.com/watch?v=yvWLZupreKs
RIP
45Many cultures celebrate the passing of loved ones. Come on Hzyelle, certainly you aren't this close minded about other peoples' ideas of saying goodbye to someone they cared about. Yes he died because he was taking too many drugs, but that did not make him a bad father or person. I have been surrounded my entire almost 32 years with many people that are struggling with some sort of addiction and that never made me love them any less than the next person. Heath Ledger was definitley not in the minority with his substance abuse. Looking at these pictures of Michelle Williams reminds me of what genuine beauty is. No fake tan, no ridiculous extensions, no makeup, and no designer dress. Her hair is not even fixed and she looks stunning. Just looking at her and the rest of the group shows me that Heath loved people based on the things that really matter, not he stupid shallow things that Hollywood has always represented. I hope they all got crazy and wasted to celebrate Heath's death. Death is sad but eventually you have to move on and make the best of it.
46Funerals are extremely difficult for the loved ones left behind, especially when the person lost is young, vibrant and full of life, and the death is unexpected. They are dealing with it the best way they know how, and it's pathetic that someone would criticize that.
I feel incredibly voyeuristic looking at these pictures, whether they were permitted by the family or not, but it makes me feel good to know that his family looks happy.
47wow, what a beautiful thing to do. I´m sure heath would have wanted this way. Its beautiful celebration of life. rip.
48taht's the way it should be, a celebration of life.
49Wow. That must've been really beautiful. It's the ideal way to say goodbye to a loved one. I hope this ceremony has helped Heath's family and friends in this time of darkness.
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