Funeral Poem to Remember Deceased Loved Ones

How can an inspiring funeral poem help bring peace of mind and heart after a sudden death or loss of a loved one? Many people are very concerned with the fate and destiny of the deceased loved one. Often, fears arise about what happens after death and what may happen to our loved one. Is she safe? Is he happy? Will we ever meet or see or be with each other again?

Christians believe in eternal life with God. That belief is based upon an earthly life united with Jesus Christ which does not end when the body dies. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead destroyed death and opened the door to heaven for His followers. Even though a physical body dies, those who believe in Jesus have a strong conviction of hope that God will bring a dead person into a new existence of love and peace. Using a funeral poem to recall that a person is at home with God brings comfort when a loved one dies.

Funeral services offer a family and friends the chance to gather together in mutual support after the death of a loved one. Often, in the funeral parlor of a funeral home, the remains of a physical body of a loved one is present. Many families choose to use a casket to carry the body of their deceased loved one. Others choose a direct cremation option. Some Christians desire burial of the ashes, or placement in a mausoleum which honors the physical body and respects that one day it will be made new. Depending on the condition of the departed body, face-to-face mourning during a visitation is a positive step.

Memorial poems written by friends or families can help work through the grieving process. Funeral homes and churches may have stock poems that you can use to remember a deceased loved one. Religious good stores and websites offer comforting funeral memorial poems about life and death, and life after death. A family funeral can distribute and use these cards as part of the funeral service, as a reminder of the deceased loved one, or a small remembrance area at home.

Making funeral arrangements is often a difficult task. You are missing the presence of a loved one and the shock, grief and loss can be overwhelming. There are many decisions to make at the time of the funeral, including the religious services, the burial, the wake, contacting family and friends, writing and publishing an obituary, and many other details.

Long after the funeral flowers have faded and the services are over, the grieving process will continue. It is during those times that the help of community through a support group, church, friends and neighbors will be important. Family and friends can make a big difference sharing stories of a departed loved one's life. Tell different episodes that were funny, touching moments and special times when you felt very close and connected. Keeping a treasury of inspirational memorial poems is soothing.

Death does not end the connection with deceased loved ones; it merely changes how you connect through love, faith and hope. An inspirational funeral poem can help ease the pain of loss and eventually bring joy by remembering there is a connection with your deceased loved ones.

To find an inspirational funeral poem that you can share with friends and family, visit www.my3strands.com.

Tips on Attending Cultural Funerals

Many people see funerals as a very difficult time that represents the loss of a loved one. However, many cultures handle funeral proceedings in different ways based on tradition. So while you may be accustomed to the process of meeting at the funeral home, having the service, trailing the hearse with casket to the cemetery then burying the body, you may be surprised by the ways other cultures bid farewell to their family and friends.

Traditional Hispanic Funerals

The word Hispanic in and of itself can be ambiguous, as it is used to describe a number of nationalities and ethnicities of Spanish-speaking individuals. However, to group people from Spain with people from Brazil would be doing a disservice to those who have highly-traditional cultural backgrounds that they are immensely proud of and identify with. So for this reason, when looking at the traditional Hispanic funeral, it will be a generalization of similar traditions that seem to stretch across more than a few Hispanic cultures and is not intended to work as a "catch-all" for all of the cultures.

The more common understanding of funerals and deaths within Hispanic culture is the idea that life and death are viewed similarly as something to be celebrated, not feared, for it is the acknowledgment of a soul's home-going. Since many people of Hispanic heritage are Catholic, they tend to take on the traditions of Catholicism, which treat funerals as a part of the process of dying - not necessarily waiting until after the death has occurred.

In this case, funerals often begin when a person is on his or her death bed. At this time, the communion of last rights is performed, which includes the anointing of the ill, the hearing of their confessions, prayers, Communion and a blessing for peace. Someone within the family is normally sure to be present with the dying individual until they pass on. And after the person has passed on, someone continues to stay with the body until it is prepared for the burial and wake - the wake being a social time when friends and family come together to eat, laugh and listen to music while talking about their fond memories of the loved on who has passed on while waiting for the burial. Lit candles and flowers are very important and highly visible during the wake, as well as the funeral.

The official funeral takes place the day after the wake with a priest or clergyman presiding over the ceremony. Often times, people place personal items and gifts on the casket to help the deceased have a successful and loving journey to the afterworld. After the ceremony is complete, the burial takes place - often times in the homeland of the deceased as a way to honor and be close to family members who have passed on. The burial represents a new phase and beginning of freedom for the deceased - now they are able to help those they love who are still living.

After funerals and burials, families usually have a gathering or reception with food and more time to come together and enjoy each other's company - and once again pray for and remember their loved one who has moved forward to the spirit world.

Chinese Buddhist Funeral Customs

Whereas some cultures allow for cremation, the Chinese societies that practice Buddhism tend to stay away from anything that is deemed improper in arranging funerals for doing so can cause ill fortune to the family of the deceased. While the specific funeral rites and burial customs can vary depending on the age of the deceased, the marital status, how he or she died and his or her status in society, much of the process is the same for all individuals.

There are many examples of how the deceased is treated differently depending on age and status. For instance, if an unmarried son dies before his parents, the parents are not allowed to bring his body home to the family after death and instead it must be left at the funeral parlor. Also, the parents are not allowed to offer prayers for the son because being a younger person he is not owed the same respect as an older, married person with children. Even more, if a baby or small child dies, no service can be provided at all because no respect can be shown due to the young age. However, if a person is older and highly respected, the family must perform the most elaborate service for him or her, even if they go into debt doing so.

When the death occurs, the family must immediately cover all statues of deities in the house with red paper and remove mirrors to avoid seeing the coffin (which is brought to the home) in the mirror because it is believed to cause death shortly after. Also, a white cloth is hung across the main entrance to the house with a gong placed on the left of the doorway if the deceased is a male and to the right if the deceased is a female.

Before the family can place the body in the coffin, it must be cleaned with a damp towel and dusted with talcum powder. Then it is dressed in his or her best clothing from head to toe. Once the corpse is dressed and placed in the coffin, the body is covered with a light blue cloth and the face is covered with a yellow one.

During the wake, the coffin either rests in the house or outside of the house to represent the person dying in the home or away for the home, respectively. The family and friends gather for the cake and eat food placed in front of the coffin. And the family also performs a series of rituals and prayers to respect the dead.

After the wake ceremonies are completed, the coffin is nailed shut and carried to side of the road to be additionally prayed over before being taken (usually by hearse) to burial grounds that are normally found on hillsides for better feng shui. When the casket is buried the family turns away from the coffin to show respect and later the mourners' clothes are to be buried to evade bad luck.

There are many more ways that different cultures perform funerals in order to pay respects to their loved ones, but these are just a few. No matter how any one culture handles its funerals, they can all agree that their traditions and customs are all meant to send their friends and family members to a better, more peaceful place.

Jeffrey Meier at Jam727 Enterprises at http://www.thearticlehome.com blog offers even more detailed information on a wide variety of topics.

Planning a Funeral Service

The epitaph or the final chapter to a well lived life is a funeral. Planning funerals can prove to be extremely overwhelming especially during an emotional crisis. Often it can become really difficult to take care of all the small details when grieving for the loss of a loved one. It is at this time when the family and friends of the bereaved family take control of the situation and plan the funeral service. The various practical and ceremonial tasks are delegated and distributed among the close friends and family members. The usual task list includes the following activities:

• Answering the telephone and providing information on the funeral to friends and mourners.

• Writing letters or emails to the distant relatives and acquaintances of the deceased, informing them about the death. A funeral or memorial program can also be drafted and sent along with the letter.

• Setting up and managing a phone chain in order to notify people of the death. A phone chain is extremely useful in getting the notice out without having to assign one particular person to make all the phone calls.

• Keeping a track of the senders of donations and funeral flowers in order to send out 'thank you' notes later.

• Making arrangements for funeral flowers and other decorations at the church, the funeral home, or any other funeral location.

• Choosing the coffin.

• Helping to arrange for a charity for the purpose of receiving donations in lieu of flowers if required.

• Finding a venue for the memorial service and also handling all the arrangements.

• Getting the funeral order of service printed for the distribution at the service.

• Arranging for food and other necessities to be delivered to the mourning family during the week before the funeral service as well as the week after it.

• Writing the obituary in the memory of the deceased.

• Providing the pastor with favourite poems, scriptures, anecdotal stories, etc. for describing the deceased.

• Setting up a memory display table or photographs.

• Babysitting if required.

• Handling the logistics of services such as podium and microphone, chairs, police chaperone, musicians, parking, transportation, accommodation arrangement for out station guests and relatives, and honoraria and fees to the musicians and officiant.

Special tasks

Apart from these regular tasks, there are certain special tasks as well. Pallbearers are required to carry the coffin from the funeral vehicle into the service. Ushers are needed to help seat guests and speakers are required for short readings, verses, and poems.

By distributing all the tasks among the family members and close friends, planning and executing the funeral arrangements isn't such an ordeal. It is an obvious fact for the bereaved family to be emotionally drained out if they have to carry it alone. Family and friends therefore play the most important role in the planning of a funeral service.

Funerals are a tough time for a family. Get advice and information to ease the pain at:
funerals

Funerals

A funeral is a procession or ceremony held in connection with the burial or cremation of a dead person. A funeral is an assortment of customs according to one's religious affiliations and culture.

In the US and Canada, most funeral rituals are divided into three parts: visitation, funeral and burial. At the visitation ceremony, the embalmed body of the deceased is placed in a casket for friends and family to view the body. Usually, visitation takes place one or two evenings before the funeral, and most attendees sign a book kept by the deceased's survivors to record the feelings of the friends and family members. Sometimes, a family might also display photographs taken of the deceased during his lifetime, or some prized possession at the visitation. The ceremony usually ends with a prayer service, and in a Catholic funeral the ceremony might include a rosary.

The visitation ceremony follows a memorial service or funeral service, and generally take place at either a funeral home or church. The funeral service is often officiated by a clergyman and includes prayers, reading from the Bible, the singing of hymns and words of comfort by the clergy. Sometimes a relative or close friend also gives a eulogy detailing happy memories and achievements. Finally, the coffin is closed after the attendees view the deceased's body for the last time. The funeral service is concluded with a burial service, conducted at the side of the grave, tomb or crematorium, where the body is being buried or cremated at the conclusion. Sometimes, pallbearers or close relatives and friends of the deceased carry the casket from the chapel to the hearse and from the hearse to the site of the burial service. In some traditions, a meal or other gathering at the deceased's church or another off-site location follows the burial service.

Funerals are somber occasions, and etiquette demands that one should attend a funeral of a friend or acquaintance to pay his last homage to the deceased.

Funerals provides detailed information on Funerals, Presidential Funerals, Military Funerals, Readings for Funerals and more. Funerals is affiliated with Golden Caskets [http://www.caskets-web.com].

New Trends In Funeral Homes

For centuries families have joined together for ceremonies and rituals to help them make meaning of their loss. Funeral professionals are all too familiar with leading these types of remembrance services, as well as the rising trend of personalization. By offering a variety of choices to families you'll find that in addition to helping them commemorate a loved one, you are inviting a variety of opportunities to connect and build a rapport. Asking open-ended questions during arrangements for instance allows a funeral director to not only get to know more about the deceased, but also to observe the ways in which families interact. More importantly this becomes the ideal setting to transform family conversations into ceremonial creations.

How is Memorializing Different than Personalization?

Although very similar concepts, personalization in the funeral home tends to focus more on how the deceased is represented. I'm sure you've found that involving family members or friends in this process creates a sense of unity and ensures that the personality of the deceased is kept alive. Memorializing goes above and beyond personalization. The act of memorializing pays tribute to a person's life and gives loved ones and friends the opportunity to recall memories. Funeral professionals who offer suggestions and facilitate such conversations can actually help family and friends capture even more memories. Recalling memories helps to build stories about the deceased, therefore the likelihood of preserving memories increases as more stories are generated.

Helping someone say goodbye to a loved one is an important service provided by funeral professionals and the cornerstone to any funeral home business. The care, compassion and empathy you exude at such a delicate time in a person's life, is not likely to be forgotten. Now-a-days, most people are familiar with photo boards, familiar music and small mementos that honor the life of someone when they enter the funeral home. Taking the leap from personalization to memorialization is not complicated, it simply involves providing tools, suggestions and handouts to show family, friends and the community-at-large that you are thinking of them and that you recognize that everyone's life is special.

Helping Families Memorialize

During a wake, why not have small pieces of cardstock just the right size for people to write down their favorite memories of the person who died? Having discussed this idea with family or friends during arrangements, you may want to walk around during calling hours with some cards and pens in a small basket encouraging others to share memories. These memories, funny stories or special recollections can be gathered at the end of the services and either given to family or friends in a special box or displayed in an album. If you don't feel comfortable walking around encouraging participation, you may want to check to see if the family would like a child or someone else to do the honors.

Of course there are many variations to this type of activity. You could have a box or basket of cards with directions displayed near the guest book on a separate table or you could have the directions with a poem or special phrase or prayer printed on the back of the cards and hand them out with a pen (imprinted with your name/logo) to people as they walk in. Encourage visitors to hand in their memories before they leave and to take the pen home with them as a gift.

This memorialization technique can be modified even further for children visiting your funeral home, however, try and buy larger cardstock pieces (found in the scrapbooking section of most arts/crafts supply stores) since children tend to need more room to write and draw pictures. Another suggestion for children: pre-cut shapes out of construction paper, such as butterflies, hearts or flowers. Children can then write, dictate or draw their favorite memories on these cut-outs to have as keepsakes, place in the casket or share with others.

Giving families the tools to help their children memorialize a loved one is truly priceless. Whether you are providing children with an all-inclusive grief-related coping kit or just a pencil and a paper, you are providing them with an opportunity to create lasting keepsakes in the memory of their loved one. This is so important especially for families with young children, since sadly, the average young child will forget precious memories as early as a few months following their loss.

Families with children of all ages may be interested in a special children's service to help memorialize a loved one. Together they can choose songs or readings that pay tribute to their loved one. Children may also want to write a story, poem or song that can be read or sung aloud. They may also want to perform a little skit or play that highlights the personality of the deceased or favorite memories. Creating a goodbye poster is also a nice way to involve children in the memorialization process. Encourage families to use poster-board or long butcher paper, words/pictures from magazines, copies of photographs and a variety of arts/crafts materials such as ribbon, paint and stickers. It is always interesting to see a tribute to the deceased through the eyes of a child. Encourage a family to bring in their poster so that you may display it for visitors entering your funeral home.

The possibilities are endless, but you don't necessarily have to stretch your imagination to help adults and children memorialize a loved one. Many funeral directors ask certain questions to illicit conversations about memories during arrangements. You may already ask these types of questions to get to know a family better or as a first step for personalization. Try encouraging family and friends to share stories with you about the person who died. By connecting some of this information, you are well on your well to helping a family memorialize a loved one.

Suppose during arrangements someone mentions to you that their loved one enjoyed cooking. Why not offer to print a favorite recipe in the memory of the deceased? If food is allowed at your funeral home, why not offer a copy of the recipe and a sample of the dish itself? There are so many variations to this memorialization technique. Explore ideas with families and friends and you may be surprised at what they come up with!

Candles are another way to help connect stories and help people memorialize. Since there are now virtually hundreds of scents to choose from, a family can most definitely find a scent that reminds them of their loved one. Whether it is the scent that reminds them of grandma's banana bread, the scent of autumn leaves that is reminiscent of dad hunting in the woods or the smell of pumpkin that reminds a family of a child's favorite holiday, Halloween, ideas are plentiful. You may even want give visitors a special votive candle with a sticker placed on the back with your name and logo and a special inscription in memory of the deceased. It goes without saying that these special give-a-ways not only provide lasting memories, but they also provide a subtle marketing opportunity as well.

Many funeral homes offer journals, albums or family tree memorabilia which become lasting memories and family heirlooms. Other funeral homes offer coping kits, pre-printed coloring pages or coloring books to children. Memorialization doesn't have to be expensive. If you can not afford to give away small gifts like the ones mentioned above you may want to consider offering photographs to the family or friends, handprints, footprints, locks of hair or video taping the ceremony. These items are especially precious for children. Remember, as they grow older, children have a limited ability to recall their involvement in wakes, funerals or memorial services. By providing special opportunities to honor their loved one, you are actually helping to decrease the likelihood of secondary losses associated with loss of memory.

Most likely you will find that a brief conversation about memorialization will spark many creative ideas from family and friends. Over time keep a list of these ideas to add to your repertoire of suggestions and to pass along to others. You may even want to add memorialization as one of the many services offered. Children and adults undoubtedly benefit from a variety of memorialization ideas and activities. It is a gentle way to begin the grief process, especially if someone was not able to say goodbye to their loved one before he/she died. I'm sure you will agree, as the needs of families become more diverse, so should our range of products and services. By supporting those left behind and encouraging conversations about memorializing you not only enhance communication amongst family and friends you also provide an avenue to help them share memories and create lasting keepsakes.

Below are some additional suggestions for memorializing you may want to pass along;

o Create a storybook, memory book or memory box about your loved one who has died. Write down important things that you would like to remember about the person who died. Interview family members and friends to find out about their favorite memories and more information.

o Write a message to the deceased. Each night light a candle and remember your loved one while placing your message in a special box.

o Create a special memorial area in your home or display items in a shadow-box frame. Include some favorite things or special mementos from the time you spent together.

o Carry a lock of hair or portion of a loved ones cremated remains in tiny container or locket.

o Provide a dedication at your loved one's favorite place with a specially engraved bench or stone or some other type of marker. Celebrate your loved one's life by visiting or having a picnic at this special place.

o Encourage children to draw pictures or write stories inspired by their memories of the deceased.

o Make a donation to a charity or create a scholarship in the name of the person who died.

o Plant a tree, shrub or flowers as a living symbol to honor the life of the deceased.

o Make a collage about the deceased using magazines, photos, stickers, etc. Frame portions of goodbye posters or photo boards used during funeral services.

© 2008. Hoping Skills Company, LLC

Cindy Clark, MSW, CCLS is a social worker and certified child life specialist in addition to being a funeral home consultant and grief counselor. She is also the co-founder of Hoping Skills Company near Boston, a sympathy gift and grief resource center. In the past, Ms. Clark spent several years as a child life specialist in hospice and hospital settings working with children and families dealing with end-of-life issues. She now utilizes her expertise in death and dying to develop consultations and children's programming for funeral homes. With nearly 15 years in the field, Ms. Clark now lends her expertise in the field of grief and bereavement as a professor at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA, a world-wide speaker, author and therapist. To contact Ms. Clark or for more information on the types of memorial products, funeral home consultations or grief-related services offered by Hoping Skills Company, go to [http://www.griefgifts.com] or call 1-888-815-HOPE

Funeral Webcasting Brings Families Together

Often families would receive that fateful call that a relative or friend has passed away. From that moment on, life gets turned upside down. Nothing but questions come to mind and all efforts focus on arrangements that need to be made. Out of town relatives and friends feel they need to drop what they're doing, and find a way to attend the funeral and to be there for the family. Unfortunately, that's not always possible. Sometimes illness, financial constraints, family or work responsibilities prevent the bereaved from attend a funeral.

In my case, I received a call from my college friend letting me know that her mother had passed away. I was leaving for a business trip to Colorado the next morning for a meeting that was months in the making. There was no way I could miss it. Yet, at the same time I was heartbroken for my friend and her family. I wanted to be there for her and at the funeral in New York. But, it just wasn't possible. My meeting was in Denver on Tuesday morning, her mother's funeral was in Long Island that same afternoon. I went to my meeting. My friend went to her mother's funeral. I sent flowers and a card. I felt awful. Now, visiting my friend, even years later, when her Mom is mentioned, I still feel a twang of guilt that I wasn't at her funeral.

Today, the internet is bringing people closer together and connecting friends, relatives and business associates in ways some never thought possible. Because of the push for new technology, software and other online applications, even the way people attend a funeral is now changing too. One particular type of funeral software even makes it possible to practically be in two places at once.

If a friend or relative can't attend a funeral in person, for whatever reason, this great technology called funeral webcasting can allow the person to attend the service anyway. With funeral webcasting, no matter where in the world you are, you can attend a funeral service from the comfort of your own home via the internet.

Mourners will be given the website address, a user id and password. Once they log on, they'll have the ability to view the funeral webcast live, streamed over the internet. But, that's not all. Should they not be available at the time of the actual funeral, they can still view the funeral webcast later.

Any funeral home can provide funeral webcasting. All they need is a simple set up with a video camera, a computer and funeral webcasting software. In minutes they'll be able to provide a service that, trust me, will be remembered for years to come. No longer will families miss their loved ones funerals because of the high cost of travel, poor health or other personal or work constraints.

The best place on the web to learn more about funeral software including funeral webcasting is Frazer Consultants. This company has a solid reputation of developing high performing and reliable technology for the death care industry. They also have a beautiful selection of funeral keepsakes and holiday remembrance ornaments.

How to Send Funeral Notices

When a loved one dies, you want to notify family and friends to let them know of the recent loss and when the funeral services will be held. There are several ways to go about sending funeral notices. Thankfully, with today's electronic messaging, you have additional options that makes it that much faster to send notices without too much effort.

A funeral notice is a form of communication that you send or email your family and friends to let them know when the memorial or funeral service will be held for the deceased. If you write an obituary for the local newspaper, usually a notice of when the funeral service will be held and its location are noted at the end of the obituary.

This type of notification reaches to a far wider audience than just an inner circle of family and friends. If the deceased was active in the community or if you live in a small town, a newspaper obituary is a good way of letting everyone know of your loved one's death.

Funeral notices written in the newspaper usually follows a specific type of format that includes:

1. Indicate the name of your loved one, birthplace, birthdate and date of death in the first sentence.

2. In order note a short biography of your loved one's life, for example indicate  where they grew up, went to school, worked and include any degrees or special hobbies or interests they had.

3. Indicate the surviving family which includes parents, spouse and children. 

4. Announce when and where the funeral, burial, wake and/or memorial service will take place.

5. End with a where to send contributions statement. You can state "In lieu of flowers..." or "Memorial donations may be made to..."

There are costs involved in publishing an obituary in the local newspaper as well as text limitations. And you need to keep in mind that people will need to read this section of the paper in order for them to know about their death, which may not always be the case.

If however, you choose not to do a newspaper obituary, there are still other ways to globally notify the family, friends, and acquaintances of the deceased. You could simply send emails for those whom you have email addresses. By sending a global email, you can eliminate the additional time it takes to make phone calls. If you are not sure how to send emails globally, perhaps a friend can assist you in this process. Don't be afraid to reach out to your family and friends and delegate some of these tasks.

Another form of notification via email are ePostcards. You can send them for free and most have a format and design specifically for sending funeral notices. This is a great way to dress up your emails a bit and notify your contact list of the upcoming funeral. Electronic notification is a also a great way to reach those who are out of state.

For the people that you don't have email addresses for, you might want to create a separate list for personal phone messages. Enlist the help of a friend or family member to do this task. You can also choose to notify via regular U.S. mail by sending a Funeral Notice card or letter. Preparing one on the computer whether from scratch of via a template can help facilitate this the completion of this task quickly.

Whichever way you choose to send funeral notices, remember to include the date, time and location of the funeral service. Provide maps or directions if applicable.

Visit this website that provides free ePostcards for funeral notices and also has an abundant amount of information for the funeral. There are beautiful funeral program templates and resources available for you to use.