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.

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.