Last night as I sat at my desk wondering what to write about this week, I went on the computer and googled “what do people want to know about funerals” but the websites that came up were pretty much all advertisements about pre-arranging funerals.
The funeral world is changing and Funeral Homes will need to adapt in order to meet the needs of the families that they serve. Certainly cremation continues to rise and simpler services are more prominent. Celebrations of Life are becoming more common place now than ever before. There is more energy spent on creating a gathering of family and friends that may include pictures, videos, favourite foods and drinks (and yes sometimes alcohol). People are writing more personal eulogies that make you laugh and cry as you remember the person who died. Gone are the dress codes and the rubber stamp that existed when I first started in Funeral Service. When I refer to the rubber stamp I mean that everyone got the same thing…the same register book, the same memorial folder, the same amount of visitation; the only decision you needed to make was which day the funeral would be.
In all honesty, it’s going to be difficult to accept all of that change. Some Funeral Directors may be worried about maintaining the profit margin that they have been accustomed to and others may be concerned that they are not doing enough to help you work through your grief. I hope that I’m only going to be in that latter group. I have always promised you that I wouldn’t try to sell you extra merchandise or services that you don’t need. I have always promised you to do whatever I can to help you work through your grief.
We are going to be going through these uncharted waters together. While we both may make some mistakes along the way, we will learn and any knowledge is good. In the meantime, if you are in the position that you need to make funeral arrangements, don’t be afraid to ask. I always say that you won’t regret the things you do, you will only the things that you wanted to do but were afraid to ask. Our motto here is “yes we can” or more importantly “yes YOU can”.
