CREMATION OPTIONS

In the past, funerals were solemn affairs, and any demonstration of joy would be regarded as disrespect for the dead. But times have changed, and the new trend among funeral planners is to celebrate a life well-lived, even if it means having a little fun. Come to think of it, there is reason to be happy when a loved one passes away. If you are one of those who believe in life after death, your loved one may be on his or her way to a paradise. And a fun funeral is also a great way to cherish the good times that a person experienced in his lifetime.

To make a funeral truly complete, you can divide it into two different sessions, one for grieving and another for light-hearted celebration. Here are some ideas to make a funeral more fun and memorable.

Give souvenirs to the guests: You can give out buttons or bookmarks to the guests. Print the photo of your loved one and his dates of birth and death on the souvenirs to make the funeral party more memorable. If your departed loved one was a connoisseur of fine wine, you can even consider giving out bottles of wine, with the photo and dates of birth and death printed on the labels. 

Organize a theme funeral party: Theme funerals are becoming more popular these days. If your loved one had a thing for the 60s, you can have a costume funeral where the guests can wear bell-bottoms, miniskirts, Nehru jackets, and headbands, and put on shag hairdos and afros. To make the theme funeral more complete, you can have 60s music and decorations as well.

Hold the funeral in a special location: Most people have their favorite places where they would like to spend time in. Holding the funeral party at a pool can be a great idea if your loved one liked to swim during his lifetime. Or for a golf enthusiast, a funeral party at a golf course will be most appropriate.

Add special cultural touches to the funeral: If your loved one was attracted to any particular culture, you can add touches of that culture to the funeral. For example, if he or she loved Hawaiian culture, you can hire a band to play Hawaiian music at the funeral.

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The world is going green. From the biodegradable paper diapers that swaddle a newborn’s bottom to the body’s cremation at death, eco-conscious Americans are seeking ways to move through life without increasing the environmental damage to our world. Environmental experts agree that cremation is greener than traditional burial. While it does take quite a bit  of energy to cremate a body, the environmental toll is considerably less than the resources consumed to make coffins and the environmental burden created by the toxic chemicals used during the embalming process.

A December 2008 article in U.S. News & World Report online noted that cremations are increasing in the U.S. Concern for the environment certainly plays a roll in the move toward greener funeral arrangements, but cost considerations driven by the poor economy appear to be the major reason more families are choosing cremation. Just as it took high gas prices to spur Americans to embrace fuel-efficient cars, it may take economic belt-tightening to lead Americans to recognize the environmental — and financial — advantages of cremation.

Cremation options allow families a wide variety of choices in planning the final arrangements for their dearly departed. Cremation permits the use of biodegradable cremation caskets that are considerably less expensive than the heavy, sealable coffins required for burial. Unlike burial, cremation does not require the use of underground concrete vaults to protect the earth from decomposition. Cremains are clean and sterile and produce no risk of toxic harm to the environment. When cremation is selected, families can even choose to eliminate embalming, saving the environment from the highly toxic chemicals released during the embalming process.

Unlike burial, cremation does not require land resources, freeing more land for other uses and decreasing the amount of land needed for cemeteries. If a family does choose to inter its loved one’s cremains in a cemetery, more than one set of cremains is usually allowed to be interred on a single plot, decreasing the amount of land space devoted to burial. Columbariums, free-standing columns or walls located within mausoleums or chapels, allow multiple cremation urns to be stored, each in its own niche,  in a compact space, further decreasing land use. Cremation also allows scattering of the deceased loved one’s cremains, an environmentally friendly option that uses no land space and allows cremains to return to and enrich the earth.

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When your loved one passes away, one of the last things that you want to think about are the funeral plans. The world seems to be turning in circles around you and you may simply just not be able to concentrate on the task at hand. Did your loved one express a final wish for burial or a service? What are your wishes for them? Is there a budget for a funeral? Was cremation an option that was even considered?

Today family members have many options when it comes to selecting the final plans for their loved one. Cremation Options is a nationwide cremation and funeral service firm which provides quality, caring, planning and cremation services nationwide with a personal touch. From your first phone call to Cremation Options, you will know that they are different; just like their name says, they are all about options.

Options like:
• A simple cremation without a memorial service
• A simple cremation with a memorial ceremony
• A traditional funeral with cremation to follow
• A traditional funeral

With sensitivity, their funeral planners will help and guide you in making the final decisions for your loved one. My family chose the traditional funeral with cremation to follow. In fact, I never even knew there was such a thing, but the planners at Cremation Options advised me that many families want to have an open casket viewing for their loved ones final farewell. We also had a closed casket at the church for our religious ceremony. Cremation was then handled after the services by the funeral home in our area in tandem with the help of Cremation Options. The next day we had the interment graveside complete with flowers.

For my family, Cremation Options not only made our Dad’s service memorable, but helped to relieve the stress that accompanies so many of the choices and they handled the details wonderfully. When someone you love dies you may be devastated and unable to handle all the decisions that need to be made, for us, this was their real value and difference. Cremation Options professionally handled the details, guided us in decision making when asked, and took the burden of details and planning away so that we could grieve in peace.

A funeral is not typically a memory that stands out for most people in fact some would prefer to forget it, but I have to say the service for my Dad was one of my most tender and memorable memories. Thank you Cremation Options for making it so.

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It is true that everybody lives a life that is uniquely his own. Unfortunately, all the colorful memories and blissful adventures that he has experienced in his lifetime will have to come to an end one day. And when a person passes away, those who are near and dear to him will be left wondering - what can be done to make a life well-lived more memorable?

I remember the time when I visited a friend of mine, Bill, right after his father’s death. His father had been fighting lung cancer for a few months, and he finally succumbed to the disease the day before my visit. I have never seen Bill look so sad, and when he started talking about the good times he spent with his father, I truly understood how much his father meant to him.

One of the things that Bill talked about was particularly interesting. He said that his father had wished that his body would be cremated after he passed away, and his cremains should be scattered in a few specific places around the country, including his old home in Duluth, Minnesota, his college in Madison, Wisconsin, a spot on Route 66 (I can’t remember the exact location) where he and his friends had visited on a road trip, a church in Boston where he and Bill’s mom got married, a hospital in Boston where Bill and his sister were born, and the family’s present residence in Allentown, New Jersey. All these places truly meant something to him.

I only met his father on a few occasions, and all along, he seemed to be just an ordinary family man. But after listening to Bill talk about his father, I came to the understanding that every person is much more interesting than what he appears to be. And when he departs from the world, the only thing that is left to do to justify a meaningful and irreplaceable life is to give his remains an honorable place of rest.

While Bill’s father had very specific instructions about what should be done to his cremated remains, many people just leave it to their family members to decide. Other than scattering the cremains of loved ones in specific places, you can choose to scatter them in the sea or from an airplane as well. If you wish to keep the cremated remains, you can store them in a decorative cremation urn and keep it in your house or a columbarium. Another option is to bury the cremation urn in your backyard or a cemetery.

Different people have different preferences when it comes to handling the cremains of their departed loved ones. And it is really up to you to decide which is the best way to make the death of your dear one as meaningful as his or her life.

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Cremation does not replace a funeral. A funeral is service of remembrance that may memorialize or celebrate the deceased person’s life. Cremation is simply a method of preparing the human remains for final disposition, like embalming. Cremation does, however, give families tremendous flexibility in selecting the time and place to hold a funeral or memorial service for their departed loved one.

Once a loved one’s remains are cremated, they can be placed in a cremation urn and held by the family indefinitely until final disposition, or even kept in the family home. This can be quite helpful when family members are spread out across the country and have to make travel arrangements or coordinate home/work schedules to travel to the funeral or disposition site. There have been instances when family members have been traveling overseas or are serving overseas with the military when a loved one dies. Cremation allows time for the individual to make travel arrangements and return home to grieve with his family and share in the remembrance at the funeral service.

Choosing cremation does not obligate the family to hold a funeral service, nor does embalming. The decision about whether or not to hold a funeral service for a departed loved one is strictly a matter of personal choice. Cremation allows families the freedom to choose the time and place of a funeral or memorial service without worrying about the condition or storage of the body until family members can gather.

Grief is an intensely personal experience. Many families find emotional release and solace in the shared grief and remembrance of a funeral service held shortly after the death of their loved one. A funeral service can be a respectful way to honor a departed family member. A funeral planner can discuss available options, help plan the service and make the appropriate arrangements. Sometimes, however, family members or the surviving spouse are so distraught by the passing of a loved one that they cannot face a funeral service immediately. Cremation allows families to wait until family members are ready to share their grief. Cremation provides families with flexibile options when a loved one passes away.

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