My Funeral Wishes A funeral is an important event that should be planned with careful consideration, as each person only gets one to celebrate his or her life. People often die expectantly and suddenly leaving any funeral and burial arrangements in the hands of friends or relatives. These friends or family of the deceased may or may not have a good understanding of what the deceased would have preferred in his or her post death arrangements. A person planning his or her own funeral can prevent this guessing game and insure the arrangements are to their specifications.
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
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According to the textbook, memorial services are becoming increasingly popular in many Protestant churches. This coincides with my family’s faith; we belong to a local Presbyterian church. The memorial will take place at The West Metro Chapel, part of the cremation package through Newcomer Funeral Homes and Crematory. This will reduce the costs significantly, consolidating the facility rental fee to only $675. Considering their will be no open casket or closed casket display the cremation will take place shortly after death, making the date of the service more flexible ensuring everyone who wants to attend the service can make it. Cremating the body will also be universally ideal for any condition the body is in from the cause of
“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...
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
Death comes to all in the end, shrouded in mystery, occasionally bringing with it pain, and while some may welcome its finality, others may fight it with every ounce of their strength. Humans have throughout the centuries created death rituals to bring them peace and healing after the death of a loved one.
For some, coping with death is the end of a journey, but to others, it is the beginning of change. The novel, The Hero's Walk, explores the meaning of this statement through the death of Maya. Because of her death, the people who are close to her, such as her father, Sripathi, begin to suffer. However, he eventually experiences a positive change after coping with her death. In Anita Rau Badami's novel, The Hero's Walk, Maya's death is a major turning point which affects the life of Sripathi; ultimately, this loss contributes to his major character development.
Death, dying, funerals, are not your typical dinner conversation. But for someone like me who has grown up in the industry, quite literally, it is not unusual. My father is the owner of three funeral homes in Virginia, Hibbing, and Tower, Minnesota. I may not have realized it, but I have seen several trends in funeral services. For this paper, I will be enlightening you with a brief history of funeral service, the types of funerals, and the cost of funerals.
The catholic point of view of preparing your loved one for death is mostly just things to do, not a way to act. There are usually about 7 steps to preparing for death. The first truly is important to understand what the dying person wants. The family plans a visit with your parish priest so he can offer the Sacraments to the dying family member and answer any questions the family may have about death and burial in the Catholic Church (What to do when…). As weird as it may seem, this prepares the dying person with what will happen to them. The family and priest also “discuss your dying family member’s wishes (including) what kind of a funeral and burial … they want, … (and the person might) express a desire to be cremated.” (What to do when…). However, “The Catholic Church strongly prefers that the body of the deceased be present for its funeral rites since the presence of the body most clearly brings to mind the life and death of the person…” (What to do when…). The Catholic Church also sees the body at the funeral as final closure, another reason why they recommend not cremating. While this is what the Catholic Church p...
These are just a few of the wide variety of funeral and death rites from around the world.
In modern day America, a lot of changes have occurred with a standard funeral. A standard funeral is viewed as a coping mechanism for the living. While coping with death, there are several ways that a body can be disposed .A body can be buried in the earth, buried in the sea, burned (cremation), exposed to air or preserved. After the body is buried, a memorial service is held in honor of the deceased. The manner in which the body is prepared for the funeral and the manner the memorial service is held is determined by the person’s culture and religion.
During a time of distress and duress, many family members make decisions which are often hasty. The funeral industry takes advantage of those who are grieving by telling family members that embalming is necessary. The undertaker uses the argument that the corpse needs to be preserved in order for it to be presentable. The funeral director often decides to embalm the corpse without permission from the person who passed away or any of his family members (Mitford, 2005). After everything has finished, the total bill for the funeral service is often more then what was told initially and the family is left with an enormous bill. People want to have the body to be presentable at the funeral; therefore, they are coerced into paying extra to promote the growth of the undertaking industry (Mitford, 1998).
Most people dismiss anything having to do with death out of fear. The uncertainty some associate with death has caused Funeral Service to be a particularly taboo subject in society. One may assume funeral directors are the sketchy personalities enthralled with death, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Over the years, Funeral Service has progressed and become a larger industry. Funeral Service has changed in its history over time, affecting the education required, and the job they do today.
It can also be quite stressful for the dying individual if the family members are attempting to plan their funeral and they are unable to communicate their wishes (Callanan & Kelley, 1992: 42-43). This issue of miscommunication occurs closer to death, so if the planning process starts soon enough the dying individual should be able to effectively communicate their wishes (Callanan & Kelley, 1992: 42-43). It has also impacted the dying individual in positive ways. Because of this, there are now places that individuals can transition into before the actual dying process begins. For example, in past decades, individuals with dementia would have to stay at home and be cared for by their friends and family, who while trying their best, may not have been able to cope with the demands of that individual along with their own personal lives (Dosa, 2010). Now, these individuals, when money and resources allow, are able to access special institutions and sectors in hospitals that are specially equipped to deal with those demands (Dosa, 2010). But this transition has plenty of financial challenges that go along with
The subject of death and dying can cause many controversies for health care providers. Not only can it cause legal issues for them, but it also brings about many ethical issues as well. Nearly every health care professional has experienced a situation dealing with death or dying. This tends to be a tough topic for many people, so health care professionals should take caution when handling these matters. Healthcare professionals not only deal with patient issues but also those of the family. Some of the controversies of death and dying many include; stages of death and dying, quality of life issues, use of medications and advanced directives.
A nurse’s perception of a good death may be different from that of a patients’ or their family. In order to plan individualized care for the patient and their family after death, the nurse must provide a sense of control, dignity, and privacy to the parties involved (Pattison, 2008). In the coming years, nurses are likely to experience an increasing multicultural society and will be witnesses and caregivers to several arrangements of bereavement, grief, and mourning that provide a sense of closure, comfort, and structure during a distressing time (Pattison, 2008). In addition to caring for their patients, novice nurses must acquire knowledge about dying, death, and coping mechanisms to decrease anxiety and increase confidence when faced with
The actual cremation is from around $50 - $150, however, a communal cremation can be half that much.
When most think about death and the after life they suddenly become shaken. Is death painful? Is it scary? Is there like after death? Are we truly at peace? What happens to our soul? Those who believe that God is our creator they seem to be less frightened about the idea of death. Socrates on the other hand was never once frightened about the idea of death.