Funeral Arrangement - How to Plan
Now what? What do you need to know? Where do you
begin?
According to Peggy Post, Director of the The Emily Post® Institute, it's always best to
discuss your wishes well before you are on your deathbed. Try to
have an open line of communication about your wishes and find out
what your family members want - this is a great gift for the people
left behind.
If you are planning a funeral, memorial, celebration of life or
end-of-life celebration and haven't had these discussions, you will
need to make some decisions before you start. This section is
designed to help you think about them.
Try to categorize your plans into the four separate areas of
consideration:
- The disposition of the physical body
- The rituals and end-of-life celebration associated with
death
- Legal and administrative matters
- Feelings of grief
Before you get started, here are a few
tips.
Breathe. Take time to think about how you want
to honor the life of the person who has died. What would they want
and what can you afford? Keep in mind, while you want to respect
the wishes of the person who has died, you should also consider how
the end-of-life celebration will help you and your family with
their grief.
Make each decision and
move to the next one. Try not to look back or
second-guess your decisions. Unless it's all been planned out ahead
of time, you have a lot to do and, in most cases, not very much
time to do it.
Recruit the help of people who
offer. There are people who will offer to help
(friends, family, community members, religious leaders). You may
feel like you're burdening them, but accepting their help is
helping them, too - it's their way of showing they care. If you are
looking for professional help, you can reach out to a funeral
director, a funeral planner or an event planner.
