Do You Have an Ethical Will?

Before planning funerals at funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI, many people are deciding to leave ethical wills to their surviving family members. As people start to contemplate the end of their lives, they also begin to think about what they want to leave for their families, including their children and grandchildren.

Usually people start by getting their medical, financial, legal, and digital affairs in order to ensure that everything transpires as easily as it possibly can when someone is facing the end of life, and then dies. That is an awesome gift to leave your family members, because it makes sure that the practical parts of the end of life and dying are taken care of.

However, we have other intangible things that are important to pass on to future generations. One of these things is the moral code that we live by. These are the principles we believe in and practice as best we can everywhere in our lives.

All the physical things and financial things we leave behind will eventually disappear, either because they break, they get old, or they simply get depleted. Things are finite and always come to an end.

However, our moral code, also known as our ethical legacy, is a gift that we can give to our families that won’t break, won’t get old, and will never run out. An ethical legacy might be the most valuable thing that we leave to our families after we die.

You know people who lived by an ethical code, but who didn’t pass an ethical legacy on to their families, so the ethical code died with them. Many of the scandals, disasters, and even total ruin we too often witness in famous families happen because they didn’t have an ethical legacy to live up to and to pass on to their descendants.

This should inspire you to envision how you want future generations of your family to live and prompt you to consider writing an ethical will. An ethical will is not a legal document. However, it is an explanation of how you’ve tried to live and how you would like your family to live after you die.

It’s your personal code, which involves relationships and ethics. One of the greatest examples of an ethical will is the book of Proverbs in the Bible.

What do you include in an ethical will?

First, you need to explain the code you have tried to follow in life. Included within that explanation should be the lessons you’ve gleaned from your relationships, your life experiences, your greatest successes, and your greatest failures.

Your life is full of lessons. One of the benefits of an ethical will is that it lets you take stock of the lessons you’ve learned while you are passing on practical wisdom to future generations of your family.

An ethical will should also be clear what you consider to be most valuable and important in life. It should detail what things you stand for and what things you will not turn from nor compromise on.

Although the term ethical will is fairly new, people have leaving ethical wills for a very long time. They may have consisted of a single letter written shortly before a person died or they may have been a string of conversations with family members in the days or weeks leading up to death. While not everyone has left an ethical will, many people have viewed this as the last gift they could give to their families.

For information about planning funerals at funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.

The Cremation Process

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Cremations are one of the cremation services offered in Washington Township, MI. While cremation is a very popular funeral option, many people don’t really know what happens during the cremation process.

Here is a brief overview of what steps take place during the cremation process.

With cremations becoming a very popular choice among Americans as a final disposition instead of the traditional underground burial, it’s important first to understand why. There are a few reasons.

Many funeral directors have noted a rise in the number of cremations since the Great Recession of 2008, while they have seen the number of underground burials go down, so there is likely an economic component to why cremations are more popular than ever.

In addition, cremations are considered to be more environmentally friendly than underground burials, so many people are choosing cremation as a way to help protect the environment. A third reason is that there are a myriad of things that families can do with their loved one’s cremated remains, and people like the increased flexibility cremation offers.

The practice of cremation has a history almost as long as that of humans themselves. In the ancient Greek and Roman cultures, cremations were grand celebratory fetes that honored brave, famous, or heroic people.

Additionally, militaries that were fighting in far away from home cremated their dead, and then took the cremation remains back home to be buried in elaborate ceremonies.

The majority of people who died were cremated, until Constantine adopted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Constantine felt strongly that he needed to draw clear distinctions between Christianity and pagan religions.

Because many pagan religions incorporated burning people alive as part of their worship to their gods, Constantine essentially banned cremations and replaced them with underground burials.

Underground burials remained as the traditional final disposition method in the Western world until religions began removing their prohibitions of cremations, enabling Christians to make their own choice as to whether they wanted to be cremated or buried.

There are some interesting things about cremations that you may not be aware of.

Cremation containers don’t contain ashes. The remains of cremations – what is left after the cremation process – are bones. The bones are pulverized to the consistency of sand, giving them the appearance of being ashes, and they are returned to the deceased’s family.

Bodies are cremated one by one. Cremation units, which perform the cremation process, can hold just one casket or cremation container at a time.

Crematories have the responsibility to make sure the family gets the correct cremation remains. All crematories follow the same procedure to ensure that this happens.

Each body to be cremated is tagged with a flame-retardant tag as soon as it arrives at the crematory. The family identifies the body either with a current photo or in person. The tag remains with the body throughout the cremation process and is attached to the container with the cremation remains that is given to the family.

Cremations generally take between two and three hours because of the intense heat sources applied that allows a body to burn that quickly.

You can have funeral services for someone who is being cremated. Funeral homes routinely arrange funeral services for people who are being cremated. The funeral service can be held with or without the body of the deceased present.

Cremation remains can be buried in cemeteries. Approximately 10% of cremation remains are buried underground in cemeteries. Many cemeteries are now created landscaped urn gardens for the burial of cremation remains.

For more information about cremation services in Washington Township, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral is here to assist you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cremations

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You have made the decision that you want cremation services in Shelby Charter Township, MI as part of your funeral preplanning (good for you!). But you may not really know a lot about what is involved in cremation or what happens during the cremation process.

You are not alone. There are some questions that almost every person who choses cremation as their final disposition, or as the final disposition of their loved one, has when they are educating themselves about cremations.

One of the most frequently asked questions about cremations is whether the deceased is dressed or not when they are cremated. The answer is yes.

Just as the funeral home works diligently to show honor to and preserve the dignity of every loved one their family has entrusted to them, the deceased person is fully clothed (just as they are in a casket and burial funeral) when they are cremated.

The only restriction on the clothing the deceased will be cremated in is that it contains no metal because metal can cause significant damage to the crematorium. So, don’t include jeans, for example, with metal buttons or belts when you are providing clothing for someone who is being cremated.

Another frequently ask question about cremations is about how the funeral home and crematory keep track of the deceased during the cremation process so that the right cremation remains are returned to the deceased’s family.

A couple of procedures are in place to correctly identify the body before cremation and after cremation. One of these is that the family must verify the identity of the deceased either visually or with a photo prior to cremation.

A second procedure is that the crematory places a non-combustible tag on the deceased before they are placed in the crematorium. That tag stays with the deceased all the way through the cremation process, ensuring that the right cremation remains are returned to their family.

People often wonder how much time it takes to do a cremation. Cremation is a fairly quick process that usually takes two to three hours. However, by law, cremation cannot be done until at least 24-48 hours after death. This gives the funeral home time to get all cremation paperwork (permits, etc.) in order before the cremation.

Another frequently asked question about cremations is whether a casket is required. The answer is no. If you don’t want a casket, the deceased will placed in a very sturdy fully-combustible container (usually made out of cardboard) prior to cremation.

Some people want to bury the cremation remains of their loved one and wonder if this is an option. It is. When you meet with the funeral director to make funeral arrangements, you will need to let them know that you want the cremation remains to be buried (let them know which cemetery so they can make arrangements with the cemetery for burial).

The funeral home has urns that are specifically designed for burial, and they have a wide selection to choose from. Almost all cemeteries require vaults for burials, whether the burial is in a casket or an urn, so you will also need to purchase an urn vault.

Another frequently asked question about cremations is whether a funeral service can be held instead of a memorial service. Many people like the traditional format of funeral services and its familiarity can give great solace and comfort to a grieving family.

You can hold a traditional funeral service for someone who is being cremated. It can be held before the cremation or after the cremation.

For more information about cremation services in Shelby Charter Township, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral is here to assist you.

Funeral Planning Mistakes to Avoid

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Funeral planning at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI should be something that you are actively thinking and doing something about. You might be surprised at how many people make common funeral mistakes that are easy to avoid.

You may not want to think about planning your funeral right now. You may be at the peak of your life in your family, in your career, and in your personal life. While you’re riding that crest of wonderfulness, why should you think about things that are not so wonderful, like death and funerals? It’s crazy, right?

Actually, this is the kind of thinking, which is prevalent, that creates an avoidable funeral planning mistake. This mistake is either waiting until you are faced with a serious or life-threatening illness or advanced age to start planning for your death and your funeral.

The reality is that you will die. The reality is also that you don’t know when you will die. Because of the certainty that you will die and the uncertainty of when you will die, you need to be prepared now so that your family won’t have to bear the burden of making these decisions when you’re unable to help them.

One thing that you need to make sure that you have is insurance. You need, at a minimum, two types of insurance as part of your funeral planning.

One type of insurance that you need is life insurance. Having life insurance ensures that your family will be provided for after you die. Life insurance can be used to pay off your mortgage and other deaths and to cover your children’s educational costs, among other things.

The younger and healthier you are when you purchase life insurance, the less it will cost you. Whole life policies, even though the monthly payments are a little higher, are a better investment than term policies.

With a whole life insurance policy, your rates are locked in the time you buy the policy for the rest of your life. Term insurance policies have lower monthly premiums, but those premiums are only for a set period (or a term) of time (usually 10 years). Once the initial term expires, your premiums will then be adjusted based on your age, and they usually rise dramatically.

The second kind of insurance you need is burial insurance. Burial insurance policies are relatively inexpensive. Their payouts are usually capped at $25,000. But they are insurance policies that are specifically for paying for all your funeral costs.

With a burial insurance policy, your family will not have to use the money from your life insurance policy (which you bought to provide for their needs) to pay for your funeral.

Once you have these two insurance policies, you need to formalize your funeral plans to avoid another common funeral planning mistake. While you can do this without the funeral home, it’s better to let the funeral home know exactly what you want. Include the type of funeral you want (if you want to be buried, let them know the cemetery information), the kind of service you want, and any other specific wishes that you have about your funeral.

Avoid the final funeral planning mistake by communicating all this information to your family. Be sure to have written documents and that they know where you keep them and your important papers.

Be sure to also let your family know that you’ve already preplanned your funeral with the funeral home and that the funeral home has all the information about your funeral on file already.

For more information about planning funerals at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.

Working Nights Linked to Early Deaths

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Cremations are one of the cremation services offered in Chesterfield Township, MI after someone dies, but some people have lifestyle factors that put them at a greater risk of dying at a younger age than their peers. One of those lifestyle factors is having a career that requires you to work at night instead of during the day.

Are you aware that people aren’t biologically designed to work at night? The body has its own timeclock. Each of us operates on a similar timeclock, which is known as our circadian rhythm. Our natural circadian rhythm corresponds to light and hormones.

At about the same time that the sun rises in the lower 48 states of America, our bodies produce a hormone that wakes us up and makes us alert. Similarly, about the time the sun begins to set in the lower 48 states, our bodies produce a hormone that starts winding us down and making a sleepy by the time it is fully dark outside.

Before the Industrial Revolution, which began in the late 19th century, just about everybody worked in conjunction with the natural circadian rhythm. In a society that was centered around agriculture, people got up when the sun came out and they went to bed when the moon came out.

With the Industrial Revolution, American society move away from agriculture and toward manufacturing. Large companies replaced home-centered farms and cottage industries, and with large investments funding manufacturing operations, American business became focused on profits.

With the development of incandescent lighting, the titans of the Industrial Revolution realized that they were not limited to just working during daylight hours. This meant that companies their profits because their employees could work 24 hours a day.

It was at this point that the idea of a first, second, and third shift was developed. The first and second shifts, which were eight-hour shifts, fell within the body’s natural circadian rhythms (although, after 9 pm, an increase in accidents was more evident).

However, the third shift, also known as the graveyard shift, fell outside of the body’s normal wake/sleep pattern. Therefore, workers on this shift consistently had more accidents on the job, more serious and fatal accidents at work, and more serious and fatal accidents on their way home after their shift.

Today, more professionals, such as medical personnel and information technology specialists, also find themselves working a night shift (usually 12 hours instead of eight hours), and, like their manufacturing counterparts, are having a higher rate of accidents, serious injuries, and fatalities both on the job and in traveling home from the job.

The higher rate of accidents is directly attributable to sleep. People who work the night shift have to try to sleep during the day when the body naturally wants to be awake. Likewise, they have to stay awake at night, when the body naturally wants to go to sleep. Sleep deprivation is common, and it not only causes accidents, but it can also be damaging to health.

A recent 22-year study of almost 75,000 nurses showed dramatic health effects for nurses who worked rotating shifts (the worst kind of work schedule for the body) for long periods of time.

Nurses who worked on rotating shifts for more than five years, for example, had an 11% higher early death rate than nurses who had never worked on the shifts. Nurses with more than 15 years on rotating shifts or 38% more likely to die from heart disease than nurses who worked day only shifts.

For information about cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral is here to assist you.

Questions to Ask About Death

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After attending funerals at funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI, you may find yourself suddenly thinking about death. Death is not something we think about unless we have to, and it’s certainly not something we want to talk about in relationship to ourselves or to our loved ones.

Talking about death, for Americans, is something that’s considered to be morbid. It is not considered to be good dinner conversation or something we talk about in our casual conversations with friends and family members. Because of this, most of us are unprepared or not as prepared as we should be when death comes.

For the few people in the United States who want to prepare for their deaths, they are often met with resistance by other family members. For example, you may want to come to the funeral home to get information about funeral options, general costs, and other funeral related matters. However, your family members may not want to discuss it or even know anything about it.

Many Americans are simply in denial about the fact that they will die. The irony is that we go to great lengths to plan for every other major event in our lives – births, graduations, weddings, home purchases, car purchases, and career decisions – except for death.

It is usually only when someone close to us dies that we actually start thinking about death, even though we may not want to. We become aware of our mortality in the mortality of those we love. It is at that point that there are questions that we must ask and answer for ourselves and for our loved ones.

One of the questions that we should ask is what our end-of-life care should look like. While some people die suddenly due to tragic accidents or catastrophic medical event, the majority of people either grow old and die due to age or they develop an illness that leads to death.

Defining the kind of care we want at the end of our lives will be of benefit and a blessing to our families. Involved in this decision-making are certain legal documents.

At the very minimum, we should have a medical power of attorney, a living will, and a will or trust. A medical power of attorney which you appoint someone to make medical decisions for you and to be your medical advocate if you are unable to do so yourself.

A living will specifies what you want done medically if you are dying. A will or trust that you appoint someone to take care of your affairs after you die, including paying off your debts and distributing your assets and personal property.

Another aspect of end-of-life care that we need to consider is where and how we want to die. With options for assisted living or living with family members, we need to determine the best course for everyone (along with the costs). We also need to specify whether we want to die at home under hospice care or would want to die in a hospital.

A second question we need to ask is what kind of funeral we want. Do we want to be cremated or buried? If we want to be cremated, do we want a service? If we want to service, what should be included?

If we want to be buried, where do we want to be buried? Do we want to service, and if so, what should be included in that service?

Once we’ve answered these questions about death, then we need to document our answers and discuss them with their family members so that everyone is informed and on the same page with our wishes, even if they might not do things exactly the same way.

For more guidance on discussing death from funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.

Do I Need Grief Support?

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Access to grief resources is among the cremation services offered in Clinton Township, MI.

However, some grieving family members may need more grief support so that they are able to process their grief and achieve a state where all-encompassing grief doesn’t overshadow everything else in their lives.

While all of us have the knowledge that, at some point in our lives, we will experience the loss of someone we love, what we can’t know is how the grief of that loss will affect us. Even if we already lost loved ones before, we will never be able to predict how we will respond to subsequent losses of loved ones.

The circumstances of death can make grief more challenging to deal with. Those circumstances can include the loss of a parent, the loss of a spouse, or the loss of a child. The death of our loved one may be sudden or violent, or it could be the result of a long illness.

On top of this, there may be other personal factors that shape and define the kind of grief we experience. These factors can include our religious beliefs, our cultures, our temperaments, our ages, and our lives’ experiences.

Because of this, it’s important to remember that there is no right or wrong way to grieve, and that the intensity and length of acute grief differs from person to person.

However, no matter how differently each of us processes grief, our grief shares some similarities.

After the initial shock and the acute, intense emotional pain that comes when a loved one dies, at some point (from a few weeks to a few years) the grief, though still always present, will eventually become more manageable.

And even though we will never not miss our loved one, we find a way to accept that this loss has happened. At that point, we can start to move forward with a much greater appreciation of the time and experiences we had with our loved one.

Getting through the grieving process is often a product of the support we receive along the way. This support can come from the grief resources provided by the funeral home, or our families, or our social network. And with these sources of support, many of us discover that, in time, we can process our loss and get through the roughest patches in the grieving process.

However, for some people, these sources of grief support may not be enough. For these people, grief is consuming and overwhelming to the point that they are debilitated by it and can barely function, much less see any kind of path forward in life.

Psychologists call this type of grief “complicated grief.” Complicated grief is an extremely protracted and all-consuming type of grief that literally stops our life in its tracks. If you believe that you are experiencing complicated grief, you should seek additional support from a professional therapist who is qualified to help you move past this intractable kind of grief.

Some of the signs of complicated grief include relentless sadness, profound and unshakeable depression, feelings of hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts. Other signs of complicated grief are withdrawal from social activities, difficulty sleeping, difficulty eating, and obsessive thinking about your loved one who has died.

When you’re experiencing such deep emotional and mental pain, you may believe that it is impossible to relief. However, by seeking professional grief support, you have access to a lifeline that can help you resolve the pain and move forward with your life.

For more information about grief support and other cremation services in Clinton Township, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral is here to assist you.

Guidelines for a Memorial Service

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Help with planning a memorial service is one of the cremation services offered in Macomb, MI.

Just as your relationship with your deceased loved one is unique and special, your memorial service for them can be unique and special as well. But even though the memorial service will be a deeply personal tribute to your loved one, you will also want to make sure that the memorial service is an event that can be fully shared by everyone who is there.

These are the main things about a memorial service that you will decide.

First, identify all family members and friends who will be actively helping you plan the memorial service. It’s important to remember, however, that this list of people may change or grow as you get into the details of planning the memorial service. You may also find that some family members and friends might want to be involved later, while some who are already involved may decide that the process is too stressful or that their grief makes it difficult for them to be involved.

If you start and continue the memorial service planning process with clear and open communication, it will take shape more smoothly and will result in a beautiful service that honors the memory of your loved one.

Be patient with yourself and with the people helping you plan the memorial service. The shock and grief of losing a loved one is difficult emotionally, and that may make you and everyone else more sensitive and reactive when things go awry (and they will, but they can be righted easily and quickly).

So, from the beginning of the memorial service planning process, commit to keeping everyone who is helping you in the loop so that you all are working with the same current information. This will keep a lot of frustration and confusion from bogging down the process.

The easiest way to communicate with everyone involved in planning a memorial service is to make a to-do list of what needs to be done. This list will include items like:

Selecting a date and location for the memorial service
Deciding on a format for the memorial service
Writing the obituary
Creating a memorial service program or memorial cards
Collecting memorabilia to display at the memorial service
identifying readings for the memorial service
Selecting music for the memorial service
Hosting a reception after the memorial service

Once you’ve identified the to-do items for the memorial service for your loved one, then you and those who are helping you plan the service can divide the tasks so that everyone is involved and everyone is able to contribute with their own unique gifts and abilities as a tribute to your loved one.

Don’t be afraid to delegate. You have people around you who want to help you make the memorial for your loved one special. Let them carry some of the weight, so that you’re not overwhelmed with both grief and all the details of planning the memorial service.

The funeral home director will be an invaluable resource as you plan the memorial service for your loved one. They will be able to help you with what options are available, and most importantly, they can facilitate and organize any vendors, location, flowers, music, and catering that you may want to have.

If you have special requests for things like military honors (for military veterans), the funeral home director will make all the arrangements for this to be a part of the memorial service for your loved one.

For more information about cremation services in Macomb, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral is here to assist you.

How to Host a Funeral Reception

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If you’d like to host a funeral reception at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI, here are some tips on how to plan and execute the reception flawlessly.

Funeral receptions are usually held just after the funeral service or the graveside service. They are designed to provide the comfort of food and drink, along with a more informal atmosphere in where mourners and the grieving family can talk, share support, and share encouragement after the death of a loved one.

If you’re not a member of the immediate family and you are hosting a funeral reception, you should always keep in mind that you don’t need an elaborate amount of planning, but you want to create a relaxed environment where friends and family can eat and share stories and memories of the deceased.

Perhaps the simplest way to host a funeral reception is to have everyone but the bereaved family bring food for a potluck-style meal. They should also bring family-friendly drinks like juice, tea, water, and soda. Make sure you also have a coffee maker and coffee.

If you use paper and plastic ware, then cleaning up after the funeral reception will be easy. Make sure there are one or two large, lined garbage cans where people can throw out their trash, and most of the extent of cleaning up is throwing garbage bags away.

Why should you think about hosting a funeral reception? There are several reasons.

One reason is to support a family who has lost a loved one. Another reason is that it gives everyone who knew the deceased a chance to remember them and share warm and gently humorous stories about them. A third reason is that it gives friends and family of the deceased an opportunity to spend quality time together in a supportive atmosphere.

A funeral reception can be hosted almost anywhere. Since most funeral homes now allow food and drinks to be served in their facilities, it may be easiest to host a funeral reception at the funeral home. Other popular venues for hosting funeral receptions are church fellowship halls, private homes, and restaurants.

You can decide whether the funeral reception you host will be public or private (be sure to get the grieving family’s input as to what they would like). If the funeral reception is public, the funeral director will announce that everyone is welcome at the reception at the end of the funeral or graveside service. If the funeral reception is private, then invitations will made directly to the people who are invited.

Food and drinks served at a funeral reception should be tailored to fit all dietary needs. If you’re hosting a meal (refreshments and drinks are okay as well), include dishes like salads and vegetable casseroles, so that if some attendees are vegetarians, there will be something they can eat. If the meal is a potluck, give a basic menu of items to those who will be bringing food so that you have a variety of choices. Using disposal containers for food will facilitate fast cleanup and leave everyone with plenty of time to socialize.

In most cases, it’s best to avoid serving alcohol at a funeral reception unless it’s a small private friend-and-family or family-only gathering. Even in these settings, however, it’s best to set a limit on alcohol consumption. With public funeral receptions, you’ll want to make sure there is a large variety of non-alcoholic drink choices, such as coffee, hot and cold tea, sodas, juices, and water.

For more information about hosting funeral receptions at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.

Be Respectful at Funerals

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When you are attending visitations and funerals at funeral homes in Macomb, MI, there are many long-standing rituals and customs that you are expected to know and follow.

With all the ways we are able to gain knowledge in today’s world, the amount of information concerning proper behavior at visitations and funerals may seem overwhelming. In addition, the different kinds of memorial services that are available today can often add to the confusion when you want to pay your respect to someone who has died.

What you need to remember most is that losing a loved one is one of the most stressful times in their family’s life, so having guidelines to what is accepted behavior for visitations and funeral services can be helpful when you’re planning to attend.

The first guideline is that you need to understand the type of visitation and service you will be attending. The funeral home that is making the arrangements for the family will include this information in the deceased’s obituary. You will be able to see what services are being held, where they are being held, and the dates and times they are being held.

One thing that you’ll want to pay close attention to is whether all of the services are public (anyone can attend), some of them are public and some are private (people attend by invitation only), or they are all private. You need to show respect for what the grieving family wants and not, for example, go to any service that is private unless you are specifically asked by the bereaved family to attend.

Visitation and funeral service arrangements will vary (depending on the family’s wishes, the location of services, the faith of the deceased, etc.) from person to person, but the funeral home will always publish the pertinent details of the arrangements on their website and in the obituary or funeral notice.

Once you know the time, location, and type of service, then the most important rule of thumb is to practice kindness and courtesy. This means you should respect the wishes of the family, that you should observe the hours that have been set, and that you should dress appropriately.

If the family has made specific requests about attire (i.e. no black, casual, etc.), it will be noted in the deceased’s obituary.

However, there are a few other guidelines that you need to be aware of when you’re attending a funeral.

If there is a visitation before the funeral, you can pay your respect to the deceased and offer the grieving family your sympathy. Visitations are usually held at the funeral home, and the time and duration of the visitation is posted in the deceased’s obituary.

As soon as you get the visitation, be sure to sign the guest register and speak with the bereaved family first. If this is the first time you’re meeting them, introduce yourself and tell them how you’re associated with their loved one.

Otherwise, greet them quietly and offer them your condolences. If the visitation or funeral service includes a viewing, you are free to decide whether you are comfortable viewing the deceased (no one will judge you if you’re not).

With the funeral service itself, be sure to give yourself adequate time so that you will be seated before the service begins. Bear in mind that the first few rows are typically reserved for the immediate family of the deceased. If the service is held graveside, the chairs that are set up are for the immediate family as well.

For more information about funeral etiquette at funeral homes in Macomb, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.

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