PLANNING
Providing information to make informed decisions
Should I have visitation? What are my memorial service options? Cremation or burial? Providing information and resources to help you make informed decisions, whether planning for immediate or future needs.
Hillary's family didn't want a "traditional" funeral service, so we worked together to host a gathering that "perfectly" reflected her interests, personality and life. Who knew you could have an open bar at a funeral? This truly was a one-of-a-kind celebration.
Almost every day someone tells me, “I don’t want any type of service when I die.” And I immediately think to myself (and sometimes actually say), “What if it’s not about you? What if a memorial service exists for the living, not for the deceased? For your family, your friends, your community members?”
We had the privilege of speaking about green burials last night at Making Choices Michigan, a local non-profit organization that helps people determine their end-of-life preferences, document those preferences in an advance directive (AD) and develop a system for storing and retrieving the AD.
All of us will face these issues, the only question is, will we be prepared for them when they arrive? We want to create a safe place for families to have these difficult conversations. That’s what this seminar is all about.
The short answer rarely answers the question - take the confusion away by understanding the various costs associated with burial, cremation and memorial events
Avoiding the planning, the visitation, the funeral, and the relationships and memories nurtured through those events doesn’t protect anyone from grief. Rather, it robs the mourning of the opportunity to grieve. And to be supported in their grief.
A few days after Grandma Dot passed away, we gathered as a family to “view” her at her visitation. As we walked into the room, Avery let go of my hand and ran up to the casket. Putting her little hands on the side, she pulled herself up in order to get a glimpse of what was inside.
A Mitzvah has two meanings: a command or a good deed. What I most admire is the burial Mitzvah. In the context of graveside burial, the community has the Mitzvah of filling in the entire grave with dirt. In doing so, it’s the duty or obligation of the community to participate.
A common question is "What is the difference in cost between burial and cremation?" There is a common misconception that cremation always costs less. The reality is that cremation services can be less, and often are, but the overall cost difference depends on your selections.
Dozens of family and friends gathered at the church to remember and celebrate Eileen, a longtime special education teacher for Grand Rapids Public Schools, a world traveler, a teddy bear collector (she had at least one or a dozen bears in every room of her house) and an avid reader (she read all the way through her library's selection of books up through the letter "M").