funeral homes in Sterling Heights, MI

Funeral Homes and Millennials

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When dealing with Millennials at funeral homes in Sterling Heights, MI, funeral directors will undoubtedly have to be prepared to make adjustments for and adapt to them. Millennials (born between 1983 and 2000) are a generation that perplexes every other generation before and after them.

Produced by overprotective parents and an educational/social system that lavished praise on them for just existing and made sure that the road was smooth, with no failures and no bumps, every step of the way, Millennials can be challenging to deal with in just about every area of life.

Funeral homes are now dealing with that challenge. To meet that challenge, funeral home directors need to know what makes Millennials tick.

Millennials have grown up in a world surrounded by technology. Before they were teething, they were playing computer and video games. Technology is at the core of how they defined themselves.

Because of technology being a part of their lives from the beginning, Millennials are going to demand that funeral homes have the technology to handle modern funerals. This means having the ability to livestream funerals, the ability to handle social media, advanced image manipulation, and to make it all smartphone or tablet-friendly.

Funeral homes need to be prepared for Millennials to tell them how to use technology and how Millennials can do it faster, better, and more efficiently. Millennials see most things – and traditions – as being outdated and old school, and they will not be afraid to tell you that.

It may come across as offensive, but funeral homes need to wade through what is actually offensive (Millennials, in general, tend to treat anyone older than they are with disdain, and as ignorant relics who couldn’t possibly know anything) to listen for what is relevant.

There are many ways that technology can benefit funeral homes and enable them to provide even more services to bereaved families who are planning the funerals of their loved ones. Incorporating these can mean that families can share their loved ones’ services with people throughout the world and they can create a virtual experience to remember.

Some Millennials are more environmentally conscience and they will want final disposition options that embrace that. They are more likely to opt for green burials and non-fossil fuel cremations.

While traditional burials usually include embalming, caskets, and casket vaults, green burials are designed to let the body decompose naturally, reducing the environment impact on the Earth. Millennials who favor green burials may want biodegradable burial containers and burial in “green” cemeteries.

Instead of traditional cremations, which uses heat to cremate the body, Millennials may choose an alternate form of cremation like alkaline hydrolysis (also known as water cremation). Although alkaline hydrolysis is a process that has been patented since 1888, it has not emerged as a preferred choice for final disposition until the last decade or so.

With alkaline hydrolysis, the deceased’s body is decomposed using a mixture of water (95%) and sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide (5%). While the time to break down the body takes longer, the carbon footprint of the process is about 1/10 of that of regular cremation, which makes it attractive to some Millennials.

Millennials will also want more personalization with their funerals. This generation is used to be able to customize everything because their lives have been customized from the beginning. Funeral homes will need to be able to meet their customization demands – which may often change on a dime – to give them the funerals they desire.

For more information about Millennial expectations at funeral homes in Sterling Heights, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help.

cremation services in Macomb, MI

A Brief Tour of Cremation Services History

A brief tour of the history of cremation services, which are offered in Macomb, MI, will reveal some interesting facts about this form of final disposition. You may believe that when you choose to be cremated or to have your loved one cremated that you are doing something that is untraditional.

However, the practice of cremation is almost as early as the history of humans. The reason that Americans think of cremation as untraditional is because until about 50 years ago, the primary form of final disposition in this country was burial underground.

But in the earliest history of humans, cremation was more common than underground burial. The reasons are many.

First, in ancient civilizations, there was little knowledge about how to preserve bodies after death. Decay set in quickly and it was imperative to dispose of human remains quickly. Cremation made sense. The cremation remains were often buried on family land.

Generally, burial was cultural. For instance, in many of the Middle Eastern cultures, burial in tombs with a stone covering the tomb was quite common. The stone was used to prevent passersby from having to endure the stench as the body naturally deteriorated.

In Egypt, burials for elite members of society – rulers and other nobility – were done in pyramids. Ancient Egyptians developed a way to embalm the deceased to preserve the body for quite some time. When the elite were buried in their pyramids, they were surrounded by all the things – including food and drink – that the Egyptians believed they would need for their journey to the next life.

Ancient European cultures, on the other hand, preferred cremation. When soldiers, politicians, and war heroes died, their cremations were done on a funeral pyre (think of a huge bonfire) and their lives and deeds were celebrated by mourners who ate and drank and engaged in other activities around the funeral pyre for several days.

However, as the world shifted toward embracing Christianity about 300 years after the birth of Jesus Christ, almost all of those cultures moved away from cremation and back to burials. The reason was not because the Bible prohibited cremation (an erroneous narrative that permeated Christianity and was propagated throughout most of the history of Christianity), but because cremation was associated with pagan cultures. Burial was a way to distinguish between being a pagan and being a Christian.

By the time the New World was discovered, burial was the primary means of final disposition among the earliest colonists, most of whom were either Catholic or Protestant. Roman Catholicism was the religion that prohibited any cremations for the longest period of time, with relaxation coming only in the 21st century.

During Christianity, however, there were some times when cremation was widely used to dispose of the dead. Most notably, these periods were in the middle of worldwide pandemics such as bubonic plague, where transmission was rapid and death almost as rapid. In an effort to halt the spread of these virulent diseases, the dead were either cremated or buried underground at depths deep enough to ensure that the infection would not spread to the living.

It was not until the late 1800’s that scientific proof that, at that time, cremation was a more sanitary way of disposing of the dead than burying them. Still, the idea and practice of cremation was widely shunned by religions and the public.

The modern popularity of cremations is a result of practicality. Cemeteries and graveyards are running out of room for underground burials. Population mobility makes it very unlikely that most people will die where – or even close to – where they were born and lived growing up.

With the ease of transporting cremation remains and the many ways to use cremation remains, including burial in a columbarium or an urn garden, cremation has become a logical choice for many Americans.

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

funeral homes in Macomb, MI

Communicating Sympathy

When you know people who are having funerals at funeral homes in Macomb, MI, one of the things that you need to do is communicate sympathy to them. Acknowledging someone else’s loss of a loved one is one of the kindest and most empathetic things we can do after someone dies.

However, many people may feel sympathetic, but they don’t find tangible ways to express it to the bereaved family. You would be surprised how few people take the time to explicitly give their condolences to grieving families as they deal with the death of their loved one.

That lack can often lead the bereaved family to feel very alone, to feel as if nobody cared about their loved one, and nobody cares about them. While feelings may not reflect reality, they certainly can form lasting impressions in the minds of the people who are experiencing them.

That’s why, no matter how inadequately you may feel about communicating your sympathy to them, you should make an effort to do it anyway.

You don’t have to get prosaic or elegant. A simple “I’m sorry for your loss” is more than enough. If you know the grieving family well or you knew their deceased loved one well, then a good way to communicate your sympathy to them is to include a fond memory or a comforting story with your message.

However, there are some things that you should absolutely not say when you are communicating sympathy. They include:

  • “They’re better off.”
  • “I know how you feel.”
  • “At least they’re not suffering anymore.”
  • “Now you can get back to your life.”
  • “You should be happy they are not sick anymore.”
  • “I’m surprised they made it this long.”
  • “It’s all for the best.”

These things indicate a lack of sensitivity about the bereaved family’s loss and a lack of understanding about death in general. It’s important to remember that you will never know exactly how anyone else really feels when someone they love dies. While you may have experienced a similar loss – a child, a parent, or a sibling – you reacted in your own unique way to that loss and the grieving family members will each react in their own unique ways to their loss.

If you want to empathize, two of the best phrases to use are “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling…” or “I can’t imagine what you’re going through…” because these acknowledge the uniqueness of loss and grieving from individual to individual.

What ways can you use to communicate sympathy?

If you’re a person who likes to talk on the phone, your first instinct when you hear the news of someone’s death is to pick up the phone to call one of their family members. Don’t. That last thing anyone who has just lost a loved one wants to do is talk on the phone.

Instead, you can sit down and write them a short note of sympathy (you do not have to go out and buy a card – if you wait, you may forget) and get it in the mail as quickly as possible.

You can also send flowers or plants with a short sympathy note attached to the family home. Plants are often a more thoughtful gift because they can be transplanted by the family, who will remember your kindness after their loss.

You can also communicate your sympathy by a short visit. Be sure to bring a little food and keep your visit short. Other people may be visiting at the same time, or there may be a steady stream of visitors in and out, which, while appreciated, can be very tiring.

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

cremation services offered in Sterling Heights,, MI

Healthy Ways to Process Grief

After cremation services offered in Sterling Heights,, MI, you will begin the grieving process for your deceased loved one in earnest. Grief is a powerful emotional state and it will affect, for some time, every aspect of your life as you work your way through its intensity into a place where you still feel the loss (that will last as long as you live), but you will also be wrapped comfortably in the memories of the time you had with your loved one.

The grieving process is not just emotional. The intensity of grief affects hormone production, cognition, and vital organs in your body. You will probably notice many of the manifestations of this very soon as your loved one dies.

One of the first symptoms you will likely experience is the feeling of being mentally in a fog or disconnected in some way from what is going on around you. This is a normal part of grieving. To help you through this and to counteract its effect on you, find someone you trust and can depend on to be by your side in the first few hours, days, and weeks after your loved one dies.

There are many things that need to be taken care of immediately after death. You will find that you’re overwhelmed and that, at times, even the smallest things can make you spiral into crying and being unable to function in that state.

Have that friend there to hand your phone to so they can deal with calls and text messages. Have them with you at the funeral home while you’re making funeral arrangements for your loved one, so they can take notes, ask questions, and help you as you make decisions about the final disposition of your loved one.

Take them with you when you have to handle legal and financial matters so that they can take notes, help you process information, and provide help when decisions need to be made or actions need to be taken.

Another symptom of grief that you will likely experience is sleep disruption. When we are in a highly-emotional state, hormonal production in the brain gets out of sync and the normal physical processes, like sleep, that they control are affected.

If your loved one had a terminal illness or was dealing with a serious chronic health problem, then you were most likely providing caregiving for them before they died. Caregiving itself can start the sleep disruption cycle because you have to stay alert enough to be available day or night when your loved one needs you.

Correcting that high alert state doesn’t happen overnight. Melatonin is the hormone that controls your sleep cycles. When production is disrupted, then sleep issues follow. You may be able to fall asleep, but not able to stay asleep. You may find that you can only sleep an hour or two at night, but you can easily sleep three or four hours during the middle of the day (not a viable scenario when you return to work).

There are several healthy ways that you can ease your body back into a better sleep routine.

The first way is to make sure that you have an hour or two before you want to go to sleep where your body has the ability to and gets the signals it needs to relax. Put away electronic devices. Even if you have the blue screen function set to turn on at night, interacting with technology stimulates your mind to stay awake.

Take a warm shower just before you go to bed. Drink a hot cup of herbal tea (for many people, chamomile tea is very relaxing) with the room lights dimmed and white or pink noise (or a fan) in the background. Make sure the room is at a comfortable temperature. Lay down in your bed – don’t sleep in a chair or on the sofa downstairs – and close your eyes.

All these healthy actions will encourage sleep and will eventually allow you to reestablish healthy sleep patterns.

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

funeral homes in Sterling Heights, MI

One Decision You Should Make Before You Die

One day your funeral will be among the funerals conducted at funeral homes in Sterling Heights, MI. You may not want to think about your death now but avoiding thinking about it doesn’t mean it won’t happen eventually. When you do die, what do you want to happen?

Planning for your death now lets you put all the details about your funeral in place so that your wishes are known and so that your loved ones are not burdened with having trying to figure out what you would have wanted while they are in the beginning phases of accepting and processing your death.

In planning for your death now, there are several things you need to consider about what happens after you die.

One thing you need to consider is whether you want to be buried underground or you want to be cremated. If you want to be buried underground, what cemetery or graveyard do you want to be buried in? Do you already have a funeral plot? Will you purchase or secure (family and church funeral plots are usually free, if there’s space, to members) one before you die or will your family have to do that after you die?

What kind of casket do you want to be buried in? The funeral home has many styles to choose from and the funeral director will be happy to go over the choices they have available. It’s important to remember, as well, that most cemeteries and graveyards now require vaults for casket burials. The burial vaults help stabilize the cemetery or graveyard grounds to withstand the weight of the heavy equipment required for digging graves and doing maintenance.

Do you want a funeral service or a graveside service? If you want a funeral service, what do you want included in it? Are there certain people that you want to participate in the service? Do you have a certain clergy member that you would like to officiate the service? Are there certain readings, scriptures, and songs that you would like played at your funeral service?

If you want a graveside service, what do you want it to include? Who should perform it?

If you’re a military veteran, do you want military honors at your funeral? The funeral home will coordinate this, but you should have your DD-214 included with your important papers because the funeral home will need a copy of that in order to coordinate military honors.

What kind of grave marker do you want? If you’re entitled to military honors, they will provide a gravestone or a grave market, but your family will be responsible for having it set at your grave.

If you want to be cremated, do you want a direct cremation (no services before you’re cremated) or an indirect cremations (services are held before you are cremated)?

If you want a funeral service before or a memorial service after your cremation, you should think about the details of the kind of service that you want.

What do you want done with your cremation remains? Many people would like to have a portion of their cremation remains scattered in a place that’s special or sentimental to them. The remaining cremation remains may be placed in an urn (the funeral home has many different styles to choose from) and either kept by your family or inurned in a columbarium niche that has a grave market or gravestone placed in front of it that identifies you.

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

cremation services offered in Clinton Township, MI

Get an Estate Plan Done

Before you need the cremation services offered in Clinton Township, MI, you’ll want to make sure that you have an estate plan done, so all that your affairs are in order. This will make things much easier for your family both in the short-term and in the long-term.

Immediately after you die, your family will be immersed in a flurry of activity as they plan your funeral and deal with all the details and people that swirl in that jam-packed short period of time. When that is over, they will begin to intensely grieve and will need a lot of time to sort through and process their grief as they move toward accepting and healing from your loss and move into that new phase where grief remains, but mostly they’re left with warm and happy members.

During that time immediately after the funeral proceedings, the other thing that your family will need to do is finalize your affairs. Part of this will be handling your estate.

Here’s how you can help them.

The first thing that you need to do is talk to your family about your death. While this may be a very uncomfortable situation for you and then, it is imperative that you be open about the fact that you will die and what you want when you die. This will let you both specify your funeral wishes and it will open the door for you to talk with your family about what you are planning to do with your estate.

One reason this is a good idea is because it eliminates a lot of surprises – that could lead to your family being upset and arguing with each other – when you die because you are there in person telling everyone exactly what your estate plan is.

The next thing you should do is to make sure that you know what the inheritance laws are in Michigan. It’s a mistake to believe that just because you have a will that what you specify will necessarily happen smoothly. State inheritance laws have an impact on estate planning, so you need to make sure that the way you want to settle your estate is in line with Michigan laws.

While many people don’t need to hire an estate attorney, if you do, then hire an attorney who specializes in estate, tax, and probate planning. You’ll want to write down any questions you have. You’ll also need to be prepared to give detailed answers about all your assets, any guardianship decisions, medical preferences, and your end-of-life bequests.

A qualified estate attorney can help you draw up a will or a trust that complies with state inheritance laws while satisfying your wishes for how your estate will be settled.

People often forget to keep beneficiary information current and accurate. Check all insurance policies, annuities, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and IRAs, as well as retirement plans and investment accounts to make sure that the beneficiaries you have listed are correct.

If they are not, make sure you get all of them updated as quickly as possible. Ask for a confirmation letter of the changes and file it with your important papers as proof of the change. To claim these assets, your executor or trustee will need a certified death certificate.

For information about cremation services in Clinton Township, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI 48044, or you can call us today at (586) 412-8999.

funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI

Letting Go Naturally

About half the funerals at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI are for older people who have lived full lives and have a treasure trove of memories and a perpetual legacy they have left behind for their families.

Some of these loved ones died naturally of old age with basic medical care, while others had surgeries, procedures, and medications that extended their lives for perhaps a few weeks, a few months, or a few years beyond when they would have naturally died.

In a time past, when older people neared the end of their days, they were propped up on a comfortable pillow, in a bed freshly made with clean sheets, near their favorite window where they could watch their grandchildren outside and watch their daughter inside as they went about their daily routines.

Food cooked on the stove was offered and they might take a bite or a sip or they might not. A radio played softly in the background with their favorite tunes. Family members were in and out to quietly talk with them for few minutes, and then they were allowed to drift back off to sleep.

There was no pressure for the older family member to be engaged. There might be a flutter of the eyelids, a smile of recognition, or the light squeeze of a hand. That was enough.

These were how older people who were nearing death died. They were safely ensconced in a familiar house, with familiar smells, and with familiar sounds. They could be in the present or they could be recalling all the memories of their lives. The young child running in the yard. The teenager on their first date. The young adult in college or at their first job working, Marriage, children, grandchildren, and perhaps greatgrandchildren.

They might talk in half-sleep or in the fog of senility about the times they remembered best – the distant past, the significant events in their lives, the people they loved who had preceded them in death.

And when they died, they were surrounded by all of this love, all of these memories, at home.

Very few older people, unless they make their medical wishes clear and have a medical power of attorney appointed who will make sure that they are adhered to, who are nearing the end of their lives die this way today.

As medicine has advanced, doctors feel obliged to do everything they can to intercede and prolong the lives of people who are simply dying because their old and it’s time. Often, this intercession does more harm than good, and while it may give quantity of life, it seldom gives quality of life.

Modern medicine can intervene to breathe for a person, to feed a person, and to handle bodily functions for a person. It can extend life by artificial means without actually enhancing life. When older people are nearing death and are kept alive, it’s often in an unfamiliar place, not filled with the familiar smells of home, but instead with the noxious smells of disinfectants and other sanitizing agents. Instead of the comfortable bed and pillow near a window where they can look at and see their families, they are surrounded by bars in uncomfortable beds, perhaps with a pillowed covering to try to prevent pressure sores, but perhaps not, with uncomfortable pillows, staring at an institutional ceiling or wall.

Dying naturally is, slowly but surely, making a comeback, because the alternative is a much harder way to die.

For information about planning funerals at funeral homes in Clinton Township, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help. You can come by our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI, 48044 or you can contact us today at (586) 412-8999.

cremation services offered in Macomb, MI

End-of-Life Rallies

Before cremations as part of the cremation services offered in Macomb, MI, some people who are dying, sleeping most of the time, and barely responsive when they are awake, may suddenly have a period of time when they are fully awake, fully responsive, crystal clear mentally, possibly eating and drinking, and very energetic.

This can be quite surprising to family members who are gathered around. It can also create a false hope that this is a turnaround for their loved one, and death, seemingly right at the door, has retreated and may, in fact, be further away than it appeared to be.

This phenomenon is called an end-of-life rally. While not all dying people will have one, many do. They may last for a few minutes, a few hours, or even for up to a day or two.

Medical professionals have no rational explanation about why end-of-life rallies happen. However, many theories abound as to why these end-of-life rallies occur in some dying people. One very credible theory is that when organs in the body fail, they can release a steroid-like compound that can potentially jolt the brain awake enough to cause the rally.

An additional theory, which is supported evidentially by the fact that most of these end-of-rallies occur under hospice care and not in hospitals, is that the comforting structure of hospice care provides a stronger invitation for the brain to wake up and engage.

Cold and sterile hospital settings, where there is a lot of noise, bustling, and lights don’t seem to encourage the brain to engage one last time before a person dies.

But in all of these end-of-life rallies there is a common component that goes beyond physiology and setting. That is a spiritual or psychological need by the person who is dying to connect with loved ones one last time before death occurs.

For family members who encounter an end-of-life rally with their dying loved one, it can be difficult to know how to handle it. Sometimes it’s so shocking that it can be confusing and that can cause family members to simply take the rally for what it is and to enjoy it, expressing their love and saying their goodbyes.

So, what should you do if your dying loved one has an end-of-life rally?

First, don’t overwhelm this with too much talking and information. Instead, listen to them to find out what they want or need and what they want to talk about. No matter how odd their request may be – some people want, for example, strange combinations of food or even alcohol to drink – do everything in your power to accommodate their requests.

Some people, in their end-of-life rallies, want music or to talk with their families. Others prefer silently sitting with their family members close by. Whichever your dying loved one wants should be what you do.

Preparing for a quick end-of-rally should be at the top of your family’s list if your dying love one has an end-of-life rally. There may be nothing more than a quick burst of energy and then a dramatic energy depletion (which supports the steroid-like compound being released in organ failure).

No matter how short or long your loved one’s end-of-life rally is, don’t forget how important human touch is. Hold their hand, stroke their forehead or arm, or kiss them. And, once the end-of-life rally ends, talk softly to your loved one. Hearing, it is presumed, is the last sense to go in people who are dying.

For information about cremation services in Macomb, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI 48044, or you can call us today at (586) 412-8999.

funeral homes in Macomb, MI

How to Deal with Death on Social Media

Many people learn of funerals at funeral homes in Macomb, MI through social media. Because social media is an easy platform to let many people know about someone’s death and for people to express their sympathy about someone’s death, it has become a go-to forum for announcing the death of loved ones.

However, just because this may be the easiest way to announce deaths and offer condolences, there are some guidelines that should be followed in how this is done.

The first guideline is that family members should never announce the death of a loved one on social media before they have personally contacted other family members and close friends to let them know that a loved one has died.

It’s becoming more common for immediate and extended family members to get the news that their loved one has died before a family member has called them to personally tell them. The result is often shock and anger from these family members that they found out through social media that someone they loved had died.

So, before anything gets posted on social media (be sure to tell the funeral home when you’re creating an online obituary, because sometimes friends will see the obituary and post it without your knowledge, that you want time before they post the obituary on their website so that you can personally contact the people who need to know), make sure that all family members and close friends get a phone call to let them know your loved one has died.

You don’t have to make all these phone calls yourself. Enlist help so that the burden of making the calls is split up among the people who are available to make them.

Some people wonder if texting or emailing family members and close friends about the death of a loved one is appropriate instead of calling them. The answer is that it depends on how you normally communicate with family members and close friends.

If texting or emailing is your normal method of communication, then it is probably okay in most instances to text or email that your loved one has died. However, all immediate family members should be called and personally told the news.

On the converse side of things, what should you do or not do, as far as social media goes, if you know that a friend’s loved one has died?

If you haven’t seen a social media announcement from the family about the death, then don’t post anything about it. It’s not your story to tell, but your friend’s and their family’s.

If news of the death has been posted on social media by the immediate family, be careful about what you post about the death, especially if the information could be disturbing or painful to the family.

Don’t post cryptic messages that, while not directly referring the death, invite questions from all over the place. There have been instances where a loved one is dying, but has not yet died, but someone posted a cryptic message that people interpreted as meaning the loved one had died. Immediate family members who had not been on social media then got shocking phone calls from people expressing their condolences.

For more information about handling social media from funeral homes in Macomb, MI, our compassionate and experienced staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral Home can help. You can come by our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI, 48044 or you can contact us today at (586) 412-8999.

cremation services offered in Sterling Heights, MI

Options for Cremations

There are different options in the cremation services offered in Sterling Heights, MI that you may not be aware of. Many people have the idea that cremations don’t come with any options for paying their final respects to their loved ones.

However, there are several options that can be incorporated to funeral planning that includes cremation. Families can choose from these to ensure that the wishes of their deceased loved one are met and that the needs of the family are met as well.

The options for cremation cover a wide array of choices that spans from basic cremation to cremation that includes everything in a traditional funeral except that the body is cremated instead of buried.

As you’re working with your funeral home director to make funeral arrangements, it’s good to know what options can be included with cremation as the final disposition.

The first option with cremation is to have a simple cremation with no services. This option is known as direct cremation. While choosing not to have a viewing, a funeral, or a memorial may seem, to some people, to be a indication that the deceased person wasn’t loved and won’t be missed by their family, this is seldom, if ever, the case.

Some people specify, before they die, that they don’t want any kind of service to remember them or to mourn their death. The family that honors their wishes is to be commended, because undoubtably there are some family members who would like a remembrance of some sort.

In direct cremations, which happen between 24 and 48 hours after a person has died, the body is transported directly from the location of death to the location where the cremation will take place. There is a rigorous process that ensures that the person’s identity is verified and the family gets the right cremation remains after the cremation takes place.

The second option for cremation is to have a memorial service. This can take place before or after the cremation. Memorial services are often a preferred way to remember and pay respects to someone who has died because they can be held anytime (since the deceased doesn’t have to be present), even weeks, months, or years in the future.

Because family members are so scattered and time is needed to make preparations to meet in one place, having a memorial service gives everyone plenty of time to make travel arrangements and to arrange for the personal time off they will need to travel.

A third option for cremations is to have a private viewing before cremation. These viewings are generally only for immediate family and very close friends, so it’s a very small group that gathers to pay their respects to and says goodbye to the deceased.

Having a private viewing for a small, intimate group before cremation is a way to get closure and to be able to openly grieve the loss of a loved one – without the family and friends feeling like they are on display for the whole world to critique their every word and action – before they are cremated.

A final option for cremations is to have a viewing and a funeral service before cremation. This option incorporates all the elements of a traditional funeral, with the only difference being in the final disposition. In most traditional funerals, the last step is underground burial of the body, while in cremations with traditional funeral elements, the last step is cremation of the body.

For more information about cremation services available in Sterling Heights, MI, our caring and knowledgeable staff at Lee-Ellena Funeral is here to assist you. You can visit our funeral home at 46530 Romeo Plank Rd., Macomb, MI 48044, or you can call us today at (586) 412-8999.