Illustrative Essay on What Services the Funeral Homes Provides?
The death of a loved one can be overwhelming and extremely emotional. When you are in a heighten emotional state, basic decision making can be difficult. Funeral homes are very helpful in the funeral planning process. Funeral homes provide professional care of the deceased, disposition of the remains, and memorial products.
To begin with providing professional care for the deceased will be done with dignity and respect of the deceased as well as the safety of the funeral home staff, friends, and family. The professional care consists of; bathing and disinfecting the body, embalming, dressing the body, styling the hair, apply make-up, and casketing. Your loved one gets placed
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The cremation process starts by removing any medical devices such as internal defibrillators or pacemakers. The body will get placed in a cardboard cremation container. At which time the deceased will get assigned a unique, one of a kind, identification number engraved on a metal medallion. The medallion will stay with the body through the rest of the cremation process. The cremation chamber will be pre-heated to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the cremation chamber has reached the appropriate temperature, the deceased will be pushed inside of the chamber. After an hour or so, the chamber will be opened to reposition the body under the gas flame jets. Another hour or so will pass before the cremation gets done and the body is allowed to cool. At this time the deceased has been reduced to bone fragment through intense heat.
After the body has a chance to cool down. The bone fragments will get swept into a metal bin. A magnet will be held over the cremains so that any metal from the body, such as screws, hip or shoulder replacements can get discarded. The cremation fragments will get poured into a machine called a cremation pulverizer. The bone fragments get pulverized into fine dust known as ashes. At the bottom of the device, there will be a plastic temporary cremation container in place to catch the ashes. The final steps to the cremation process are to put the identification medallion in with the ashes and fill out the cremation
God tells his children, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation). Death is one of the most frightening and confusing times a person can go through. Watching a loved one pass away is also one of the hardest trials a person can experience. Many people assume that death is a time of pain and the only thing that they can do is mourn and watch their loved one fade away from the earth. This is wrong. There are ways that people can turn a bad situation to good. Dying doesn’t have to be painful and full of suffering. The County Hospice staff makes sure of this. The Hospice staff not only takes care of passing patients physically, but they also take care of the patients emotionally and spiritually. Hospice staff also plays a key role in helping families during the grieving process.
In the short story “Max” by Ron Carlson introduces the main character of the story Max, which is the pet of the Narrator and Cody, who are the owners of the dog. The intelligent , and strong nosed dog doesn’t seem like an well trained dog, but he knows his owner well enough to know how he feels about other people and their presence. Max is know as a crotch dog, a dog that sniffs and poke people’s crotch very swiftly and shapely. It may seem if though the dog isn 't well trained and doesn 't have proper manners, because of the fact that Max will sniff any stranger 's crotch rudely and aggressively. “He can ruin a cocktail party faster than running out of ice”, this isn 't a good and acceptable behavior that a well trained dog would do in this
Members of the funeral industry are united by the caring of the deceased. We take care of those who have died, and in doing so, we help those left behind grieve, mourn and accept their loss. It is a stable occupation, though most refer to it as a “calling”. The funeral industry accepts all most everyone. In the United States, there are more than 22,000 funeral homes. Amongst those funeral homes, there are approximately 102,877 workers. Of those 102,887 workers, there is estimated that there are 25,820 funeral directors and 8,190 embalming specialists. Most funeral homes are independent cells, unless they are part of a chain or a corporation. That said, each state has a board that oversees that state’s requirements for license and regulations, with a national board to rule of law and requirements. These boards usually hold conventions yearly to spread knowledge and draw attention to upcoming issues. To work as a funeral director or embalmer, someone must pass both their chosen state requirements and the national requirements. My personal connection to the funeral industry is that I am a funeral service intern, or a funeral director apprentice. I have worked at a funeral home for over two years.
“In most human society's death is an extremely important cultural and social phenomenon, sometimes more important than birth” (Ohnuki-Tierney, Angrosino, & Daar et al. 1994). In the United States of America, when a body dies it is cherished, mourned over, and given respect by the ones that knew the person. It is sent to the morgue and from there the family decides how the body should be buried or cremated based on...
begins to wonder exactly what happens when one is cremated. This mood of awe is
...shes to see their loved one for the final time, can pay their respects, with the closest family members going last. Family and friends are welcome in one's home after someone passes to preclude them of the loneliness of their lost one. Cremations are not uncommon.
Hospice focuses on end of life care. When patients are facing terminal illness and have an expected life sentence of days to six months or less of life. Care can take place in different milieu including at home, hospice care center, hospital, and skilled nursing facility. Hospice provides patients and family the tool and resources of how to come to the acceptance of death. The goal of care is to help people who are dying have peace, comfort, and dignity. A team of health care providers and volunteers are responsible for providing care. A primary care doctor and a hospice doctor or medical director will patients care. The patient is allowed to decide who their primary doctor will be while receiving hospice care. It may be a primary care physician or a hospice physician. Nurses provide care at home by vising patient at home or in a hospital setting facility. Nurses are responsible for coordination of the hospice care team. Home health aides provide support for daily and routine care ( dressing, bathing, eating and etc). Spiritual counselors, Chaplains, priests, lay ministers or other spiritual counselors can provide spiritual care and guidance for the entire family. Social workers provide counseling and support. They can also provide referrals to other support systems. Pharmacists provide medication oversight and suggestions regarding the most effective
Morbid Funeral Home, Inc. is an accrual basis taxpayer who sells preneed funeral contracts. Customers pay Morbid in advance for goods and services to be provided at the contract beneficiary’s death. Under state law the payments are refundable if the contract purchaser requests them any time until the goods and services are furnished. Morbid, for both financial and tax accounting purposes, includes the payments in income for the year the funeral service is provided. Morbid insists that the amounts it receives under the contracts are customer deposits. The IRS agent insists that the payments are prepaid income that is subject to tax in the year of receipt.
Death is part of the circle of life and it's the end of your time on earth; the end of your time with your family and loved ones. Nobody wants to die, leaving their family and missing the good times your loved ones will have once you pass on. In the Mercury Reader, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross “On the Fear of Death” and Joan Didion “Afterlife” from The Year of Magical Thinking” both share common theses on death and grieving. Didion and Kübler-Ross both explain grieving and dealing with death. Steve Jobs commencement speech for Stanford’s graduation ceremony and through personal experience jumps further into death and how I feel about it. Your time is on earth is limited one day you will die and there are many ways of grieving at the death of a loved one. I believe that the fear of death and the death of a loved one will hold you back from living your own life and the fear of your own death is selfish.
The body is taken to the synagogue, there the chevra kadisha starts the purification of the body by washing it from head to toe. This is considered a new transition for the deceased. Some synagogues conduct a taharah during this process. It consists of Torah readings, and other prayers.
I have chosen to plan my own funeral and post mortem arrangements with the minimal budget of $2,700. Since I have such limited funds to work I have decided to cremate my body instead of the more traditional burial in a coffin. Cremation is a cheaper alternative to an earth burial, more environmentally friendly, and increasing in popularity throughout the United States. This is a practical choice especially for someone with a small budged, burials in this day and seems more unnecessary and obsolete in a society of growing population and
When death occurs, the body is prepared for viewing. People of the same gender prepare the body by laying their “hands across the chest, closing the eyelids, anointing the body with oil, and placing flower garlands around it.” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, pg. 384). According to Leming and Dickinson, Hindus believe that cremation is “an act of sacrifice” because they are offering their body to God. The body is usually cremated on the bank of a sacred river. The book, Understanding dying, death, and bereavement offers an “invocation” that would be close to what a priest would recite, “Fire, you were lighted by him, so may he be lighted from you, that he may gain the regions of celestial bliss. May this offering prove auspicious.” Leming and Dickinson (2011) state that between 10-31 days post cremation, a feast (shraddha) is shared among mourners and priests. Shraddhas can last hours to days, depending on the wealth of the family. Once this shraddha is over, the mourning period comes to a close. It is said that the funeral is the second most important ritual, following a wedding, and that many families spend all the money they have on them, leading to impoverishment (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p.
While a person is on their deathbed, the pastor will prepare them for death. This is done through prayer and reconciliation. After the person has passed the pastor may visit the bereaved family to offer comfort and or assistance. He will help them cope with the death and if needed will also help in organizing the funeral. Also, friends will often send their sympathies in the form of cards and/or flowers to the deceased’s family.
There is an entire process of the body becoming mummified before it is even placed in the tomb with these funerary objects. There are two stages to the process of mummification (example of Egyptian mummy above). When an important figure has passed, they need to embalm the body. The body is washed with palm wine and then rinsed with water from the Nile River. Next, an incision is made and the organs are removed, washed in natron, and placed into sacred jars called canopic jars (example in photo below). A large hook is used to remove the brain through a nostril. The body is then covered and stuffed with natro...
Many steps are taken when a family member dies. The first step is called the wake. The wake is where the coffin is placed on its own stand. If the family member dies away from home he or she is placed in the courtyard. If he or she dies at home they are placed inside the house. The deceased's coffin rests a foot high off the ground and is covered in gifts from the family. A self portrait or photograph of the deceased family member is also placed by the coffin. During the wake, the coffin is not sealed. After the wake is the funeral ceremony, which lasts over 49 days. If the family is wealthy, prayers ceremonies are held every 7 days for 49 days. The head of the family should be present for the first prayer ceremony and should also be present for the burial. After all of the ceremonies, the coffin is nailed shut. The family then makes their way to the burial site. It is tradition that the eldest son stays by the coffin. Next is the burial. At the gravesite, the coffin is taken down from the carrier and all family members must look away. Once the coffin is lowered, family members throw a handful of earth onto the coffin before the grave is filled. Then the 100 day mourning period begins. During this time, the family wears different colored pieces of cloth to signify their mourning.