Cremation Services Sometimes Include Urns You Choose

There are two basic things you can decide between when a loved one passes away: funeral home or cremation services in Shelby Charter Township, MI. If you decide that cremation is the right way to go, you have other decisions you want to make. The first thing you will want to do is get a cremation package for your loved one. That will take care of all of their needs upfront. You don’t have to get anything else, if you don’t want to. But you can also get something else if you want more than the basics. Many families like to buy an urn for their loved one, for example. There are a lot of options available and here are a few things to consider along the way.

The Budget

It’s wise to have a budget in place for your loved one’s final services. Once you know what you can spend, you can move forward with the options before you. When you want cremation, choose a package and see how much you have leftover. Then, you know what you can spend on an urn and what you might want to save for a memorial service or other such things. The budget will inform many parts of the urn-choosing process.

The Purposes You Have In Mind

Urns primarily act as containers for your loved one’s remains, but they have other side functions as well. The purposes you have in mind for your loved one’s urn can help you to find something you are going to get. If you are going to scatter ashes, for example, you might get a scattering tube to help with that. If you want to bury your loved one’s remains and you want to protect them, metal urns are nice. When you want to keep your loved one’s remains at home, consider an urn that looks good with your décor and honors them at the same time.

Your Loved One’s Style

You want your loved one’s services to be unique and special, like they were. Their urn should reflect their style and personality. You might get an urn in their favorite color or something with a phrase on it that they loved to showcase their personality.

Professional Size Advice

Urns vary in size and you want to get something that will fit your loved one. The size you need can be determined by the height and weight of your loved one. The professionals helping with the cremation can let you know what size you need for your loved one’s urn. You can get something larger, but you don’t want to get anything smaller.

There are tons of options for urns and that can help you to figure out what works best for your loved one. You can find something that they would appreciate and that serve for your loved one’s services, too. Talk to the professionals running the cremation services in Shelby Charter Township, MI, and they can offer advice and suggestions as well. There’s a good solution for everyone.

Your Loved One Passed Away Suddenly-Now What?

When you lose a loved one, there are a range of emotions that you might feel as you walk through the grieving process. However, when you lose a loved one suddenly, when you weren’t expecting them to pass away, it can feel almost impossible to make your way through the grief that compounds onto you. That person needs things from you, like arrangements for cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI. And on top of that, you are going to have to figure out how to deal with your grief. Here are a few tips.

Allow Your Feelings

It’s hard to know what you are going to feel as you move through the grieving process. Everyone’s grief is different and will take its own path. You are going to want to allow those feelings to happen and to progress in a natural manner. Don’t run from them, but rather allow your feelings to flow. Make time to vent and have the emotions that are coursing through you. Everything you feel is okay and you are going to have to let those feelings out in order to move forward.

Spend Time With Loved Ones

One of the things you are going to need while you grieve is time with your family members and friends. These are the people you love the most and while you will always miss the loved one who passed on, the people you love who are still there will support you through this process and help you to recognize that you still have people around you who care and love you.

Tend To Your Needs

If you are in charge of your loved one’s final services, it can be hard to think of much outside of their needs. You’ll also be thinking of your family members and the overall shock you are feeling from the situation. You have to think of yourself, too, and tend to your own needs. You won’t be good to anyone if you are overtired and you haven’t eaten any real food in days. The grief is going to be hard no matter what, but it’ll be even worse if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Make it a point to stick to your eating and exercise routines and get the rest you need, when you need it.

Get Closure

Closure isn’t something that comes easily, but it’s something you have to have in order to move forward with your life and the mourning process. You might get closure from seeing your loved one before their cremation, or even by witnessing the cremation process. Or, perhaps having a memorial service for the deceased will help you grasp onto that sense of closure.

Find Professional Support

The funeral home providing cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI can help you to get the grief resources you need to move in the right direction with your grieving process. You might want a counselor to talk things through with or a grief support group that can help you feel less alone with your emotions.

Funeral Home Ideas For Gifts Other Than Flowers

When you are working with funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI on a loved one’s final services, there are a lot of different decisions to make. Eventually, you will want to think about what you want people to send to the funeral home or to your family as a sympathy gift. People will often automatically send flowers, and that’s a nice gesture. But maybe your loved one was allergic or perhaps you don’t want to be flooded with too many arrangements. Instead, you can ask for a different type of gift since you know people will want to send something. Here are a few ideas you might want to list.

Charitable Gifts

If your loved one passed on due to a certain disease, you might ask people to donate to research for that cause. If they supported a certain charity, have people donate to that charity on their behalf and in their honor. That can mean more to you and feel as if your loved one is making a difference, even in their death. It is also something nice for people to do and they will appreciate the information as well.

Goods For Charities

If you feel like people will want to bring tangible things, run a collection for a local charity. Perhaps you heard that the local food bank can never have enough soup or peanut butter or the shelter in your town always needs diapers. Have everyone bring items of that nature and you can stock those shelves, all in honor of your loved one.

Money For The Services You Are Holding

Funeral services aren’t cheap and if you aren’t able to cover everything you want for your loved one, perhaps you will take out a personal loan to get what you have to have. Then, you can ask guests to donate cash to the cause so you can pay that loan off and cover the expenses. People are often honored to help with someone’s final services. They want to cover those needs, just as you do. Knowing their money is going to help the family can mean a lot to everyone involved.

Volunteer Hours

Instead of donating anything tangible, you can encourage people to volunteer in your loved one’s honor. Perhaps your loved one adored animals, so you can request that people spend time walking dogs for the animal rescue league or volunteering at an adoption event. IF your loved one volunteered at a certain place in town, they need to fill those hours and you can do that through the guests who attend the services. Ask everyone to take up a bit of the slack your loved one left behind and together, you can get things covered in their honor.

When you work with funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI, people are going to want to send sympathy gifts to you. That often means flowers, but you can request other gifts, if you would prefer something else. The professionals can help you with more ideas and options.

COVID Isolation Coupled With Cremation And Grief

Losing a loved one is one of the hardest things you can go through. You want to take care of their needs, so you have cremation services in Washington Township, MI for them. Now, you are going through the grieving process and you have your own needs. On top of that, you caught COVID and now, you have to stay away from others, isolate yourself, and deal with your grief all at once. It might feel overwhelming and impossible. Here are a few tips to help you get through these circumstances.

Keep In Contact With The Outside World

While you aren’t going to want friends coming over to visit, that doesn’t mean you can’t keep in contact with them. Call friends when you get lonely and ask them to video chat when they are available. If they know you are in need of attention, they will likely reach out to you as well. They know you are going through a hard time and they want to help in any way they can. Even something small like texts and phone calls can help you feel less isolated.

Ask For Help

You might not feel comfortable going out to get your own food, running errands, and other such things. If you don’t have other people in your house that can do that, you might want to ask your friends and family members for help. They can pick up groceries for you, for example, and leave them on your porch. They can pick up your takeout and place it in your garage. They can drive through the pharmacy for you and other such things. You aren’t putting them in danger and they are helping you out at the same time.

Research Virtual Grief Resources

You might recognize that isolation and grief are not a good combination. But at the same time, you have to isolate yourself in order to protect family members and friends from an illness. Since you can’t get the in-person support you might need at this time, look into virtual options. There might be support groups that meet online locally and you can get in on the conversation through your computer. Or, there might be groups that meet in-person, but also offer virtual options. You could even meet with a counselor over the computer, over the phone, or through texting. That can help you to feel less alone and give you an avenue to working through your grief.

Grab A Streaming Subscription

While people are going to be what you need for your support more than anything else, while you are alone, you might want to distract yourself with something that can help you take your mind off the grief while you recover from COVID and move forward. Get a subscription to the streaming service of your choice and catch up on some of your favorites.

There’s nothing easy about having COVID. There’s also nothing easy about caring for a loved one’s death with cremation services in Washington Township, MI. When you are hit with both, going through it all can feel overwhelming.

Nourishing Families Around Funeral Services

Your heart goes out to your friends when you hear they have lost a loved one. Perhaps you have lost someone close to you as well and you understand how hard the grieving process is. While the process will be different for your friend than it was for you around funeral homes in Washington Township, MI, one thing remains the same—physical needs are going to be present. Your friend needs to take care of themselves now more than ever. As they grieve, you have compassion for them and want to reach out to them in support. One thing you might do is nourish them and their family with meals. Here are some of the options to consider:

Organize A Meal Train

Taking a meal to the grieving family is always nice, but you can take another step in that direction and organize a meal train with other people who want to help. Find an online outlet and have people sign up so you can cover meals for the family for a certain amount of time. You can ask your friend what types of things the family enjoys and list those options as well. People can leave the meals in a cooler at their doorstep so they don’t feel like they have to interact and entertain a lot. It can really help them to care for themselves and possibly extra family members that they might have in their home during this hard time.

Gift Cards For Area Restaurants

Not everyone is good at organizing or cooking, but that’s okay, there are still things you can do. You know what restaurants the family frequents and you know what your friend enjoys. Send gift cards to area restaurants, perhaps that deliver or at least have take out. That can help your friend to get something fresh for their family as a treat. It might also encourage them to get out of the house, even if only for a little while to pick up a meal.

A Basket Of Fruit

Comfort foods are always nice, but you don’t necessarily want your friend to feast on empty calories. They need fuel for their body during this hard time and they may have a lot of family coming in and out, making eating properly even harder. A fruit basket can give them something easy to grab and snack on that will also give them the energy they need to make it through the day, or even the next few hours. It’s also a nice thing they can have out for their family members to enjoy when they come through.

Grocery Delivery

Perhaps you know that your friend actually enjoys cooking and you feel like they might appreciate the distraction. You can have some of the basics delivered to their house from a nearby grocery store. Make sure they have milk, orange juice, eggs, and other basics. You can also send them some baking mixes and fresh ingredients in case they feel like some cathartic time in the kitchen.

If you want to help a grieving family around services with funeral homes in Washington Township, MI, the professionals can help with more ideas.

Cremation Grieving During The Winter

There’s never one time of the year that’s easy to get through the grieving process. Grief is hard, no matter what time of the year it is. However, it might feel even harder to get through that grief when the winter months are in full force. If you hear that a loved one has died, you want to meet their needs first. Have cremation services in Shelby Charter Township, MI for them to honor them and give them the proper send-off. Then, you will move forward with your grief. It can feel even harder to get through during the winter months. Here are a few tips to help you take the edge off.

Open Those Blinds During The Day

The winter months are often darker. It gets darker earlier, and there’s not as much light during the day. When the sun is out, and things are bright, you want to get that sunlight into your home. Open your blinds and let the sunshine in. It can feel good to feel the warmth on your skin, and you might be able to get a little bit of vitamin D in. Having more sun in your home can help you feel more productive, and when you do a few things around the house, that can make you feel a bit more normal, in general, even when you are grieving.

Distract Yourself With Entertainment

It can be hard to enjoy things when you are grieving, but you can’t spend all day dwelling on your loved one and your grief every day. You might want to distract yourself with some form of entertainment or another. Read a book you’ve had on your nightstand for a long time. Watch a movie that came out recently. Catch up on your favorite TV show. These entertainment options can help you feel more normal about your life as it sits right now…at least for a little while.

Exercise Inside

It might be too cold to take a walk, but there are exercise options inside your home. Walk on your treadmill, if you have one. Dance around to some music. Lift some weights. Do some crunches and squats. Getting your body up and moving can help the endorphins start to flow, which is never a bad thing, especially when you are grieving.

Invite People Over Or Meet Them Out

You don’t want to isolate yourself during the grieving process, and it’s certainly easy enough to do so during the winter months. Have a friend come over on a weekly basis for coffee or meet someone out for lunch every now and then. When those offers come in, take them. Or reach out to yourself when you are starting to feel lonely.

Cremation services in Shelby Charter Township, MI come with the grieving process, and it can be harder to get through the process during the winter months when things are colder and you find it easier to isolate yourself. Reach out to the funeral home professionals whenever you need extra support and they have resources that can help you out.

Dressing For Funeral Home Services

It’s always hard to hear that a loved one has passed on and you may very well want to honor that person through the services the family plans at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI. There are plenty of things you will want to know about attending a funeral, but one thing that might be at the forefront of your mind is what you should wear. These options are things to consider, but you can also reach out to the family for advice or call the funeral home for further options.

Black Dress Clothes Are Standard

When you think of funeral home services, you might imagine black suits, black dresses, and other black clothing. That is perfectly acceptable and the standard when it comes to funeral homes. Black is the customary mourning color and it’s always a good choice. However, while it used to be the most accepted option, other choices work just as well today. If you have any doubts, you can always go with black, but other options could be possible, too.

Other Dark Colors

You may have a navy blue suit or a dress in dark brown. Those colors will work just as well as black for a modern funeral. You are still dressing in a respectful color to honor your loved one. You just want something that will fit in and won’t draw attention to you since the day is about the person who died.

Avoid Bright And Busy

One thing you will want to avoid is anything too bright in color or too busy in the pattern. These things are distracting and can draw attention to you. They might also make you feel like you are drawing attention to yourself, which is not something you want at a service of this kind.

Choose Modest Options

No matter what darker color you choose to go with, you need to make sure the outfit is a modest, conservative choice. Pick something you would be comfortable wearing to church or a business meeting. Skirts shouldn’t be too short, and tops shouldn’t be too low cut. Modest is key to showing respect for the service.

Getting The Right Choice

You might have the perfect go-to option in your closet for these occasions. Or, it may have been a while since you’ve been to a funeral, and you don’t really have anything you feel would be appropriate. If you can’t throw something together in your closet, go to the stores and find something new that will work. It’s nice to have something you can wear again if something else of this nature comes up.

When you dress the right way for the services at funeral homes in Shelby Charter Township, MI, it will show your respect for the person who died and the funeral service. If you have questions about what you want to wear, funeral professionals can give you advice.

Consider Funeral Home Options With Questions

When a loved one passes on, you want nothing but the best for them. You will have to hire funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI to help you with their final services. The people you hire are going to make a huge difference in the way the service turns out and how you feel your loved one and the rest of your family was treated. In order to decide whether or not a certain funeral home is for you, asking questions is key. Here are some of the things you are going to want to ask as you judge the options.

How Long Have You Been In Business?

While there may be nothing wrong with a funeral home that is new to the area, it might be important to you to have professionals who have been around for a long time. When you hear that they have been in business for decades, it can help you trust their services and processes that much more. You know they have been through final services many times and they know just how to advise you as to what you need to do moving forward. You also can feel like your loved one is in good hands with them.

Do You Have Certain Services?

There may be certain things that you might want for your loved one and you are going to want to make sure the funeral homes you are talking to have those service options. Any funeral home that doesn’t have those services can be marked off the list. You don’t want to commit to a certain company only to find out later the one thing you really wanted is something they don’t offer.

What Are Your Prices?

It’s important that you are treated fairly when you work with funeral homes. They can have a variety of prices and they should be upfront about sharing them with you when you ask. You can take those price lists and compare them to other companies. That is something that will help you to understand what companies are offering fair, affordable prices, and which ones are charging too much or too little. When you see prices that are too high, the funeral home might be trying to make money off of you and that’s not fair. When you see prices that are too low, the company might have fees hidden along the way or they might not offer the quality services you need for your loved one.

How Are You Different?

It can be a good idea to talk to the funeral home about how they are different from other companies in the area. They might tell you that they have certain services that other companies don’t have. They might have a location close to a popular cemetery. Or, they might treat their clients like members of their own families. All of these things can help you recognize which funeral homes in Chesterfield Township, MI are right for your family and will treat your loved one well.

Losing Someone Suddenly And The Cremation That Follows

When a loved one passes on before you were expecting it to happen, there are many things you can do to meet their needs. You might feel like you are on the spot and you have to get them cared for in the proper manner. Cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI can help you meet those initial needs while giving yourself what you have to have in order to start the grieving process as well. Here are some ways that cremation can help you out during this hard time.

Meeting Those Needs

One of your first thoughts is going to be of your loved one and what they need. You want them to have what they have to have and since they can no longer care for themselves, it’s up to you to get things started. When you work with funeral homes, it’s important to understand that whether you go with a funeral service or a cremation, your loved one’s needs will be met with honor and respect. Choosing cremation when the death is sudden can help you place time on your side to deal with your own emotions.

Move On Your Own Timeline

Cremation is going to have to happen within a few days of your loved one’s death, if that is the direction you choose to go in for them. But once the cremation is complete, you are able to place things on your own timeline and address your emotions first before you move ahead. You might need a little time to process the situation before you make plans. When you cremate, you can place the memorial service and final resting place decisions on any timeline that make sense for you. It’s nice to give family notice so they can travel to your location in time for the memorial service you plan. Having something a little bit down the road can also help you to plan something really special. Having more time when you weren’t expecting the death to happen can really help you to settle into the idea that your loved one is gone.

Spend Time With Family

When you choose cremation, the only thing you have to do is pick a cremation package. The package is going to cover everything your loved one has to have and take the burdens off of you. Your loved one is going to get what they need and you can then spend time with family. That will help you to process what is happening and get the support you need.

Get Grief Support Options

The funeral home is going to be there to help with your loved one’s needs, but you might have grief needs yourself. You can get some of what you need through a memorial service and other options. But you might also need extra support so you don’t feel alone in your grieving process. The professionals have connections with counselors and grief support groups that can help you move forward after cremation services in Chesterfield Township, MI.

Funeral Service Volunteers Deserve Recognition

When you lose a beloved family member, you are going to see friends and family members come forward and offer their help and support. You will need the professionals at funeral homes in Washington Township, MI to serve your family and your loved one’s needs, but you will also need the important people in your life to lean on. Once the final services are behind you, you might want to thank the people who did things for you along the way. Here are some of the people you will want to thank with phone calls, cards, or in other ways.

Service Helpers

While you are in charge of planning the final services, you might have help with the process. There may be family members who help you implement certain things and others who step in and plan certain parts. Anyone who helps you with the final services is someone you will think about thanking. These people stepped up and helped you in a time of great need and you want them to know you appreciated what they did during that time.

Service Participants

Funeral services are often run by professionals, but many times, you have family and friends who participate in the services. You might have your loved one’s best friend do a reading, your cousin sing a song, and your nieces and nephews handing out bulletins and seating people. Anyone who participated in the funeral service itself deserves a thanks from you to recognize how special they made the service for your family and for the person who passed on. Let them know that they made a difference in the way things went.

Gift Givers

Not everyone will be able to make it to the final service, even if they want to be there. Either way, you are going to want to hear from people who care about your family. Some people might send cards to show their sympathies and others will include money with those cards. You might have people sending flowers, care packages, and other gifts as well. Try to keep track of who sends what so you are able to write thank you cards to everyone and be specific about what they sent and what it meant to you.

Anyone Who Helped Around The Service

Not everyone will be able to help with the service, but you will likely have people helping out with other things around the service. Someone might offer to bring you a meal or set up a meal train, even. Others might help with the reception or running errands for you around the services. You are going to want to let them know that the time they spent helping you meant a lot to them and aided you in putting plans together.

When you have services for a loved one with funeral homes in Washington Township, MI, there are a lot of people who are going to surround you with their support. You want to acknowledge those people and let them know you are thankful for whatever it was that they did. Keep a list handy so it’s easy to remember.

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