›› Funeral Plans
The responsibility
of making funeral plans and making arrangements for one's death can be
a morbid situation to be faced with. However, forward-thinking
individuals often make these arrangements far in advance out of love
and consideration for family and loved ones.
Recently, a good friend of our family fell ill. He and his wife ended
up moving into the basement suite in their daughter's home. As he fell
sicker and sicker, it became quite obvious that the end was near. The
family met with an arranger to make funeral plans for him imminent
death. Within weeks of making those plans, he became completely
bedridden and one cold winter morning, he simply didn't wake up. Having
to make those funeral plans in such a slap-dash manner was stressful
for everyone, especially the man himself. It made me think how much
wiser it is to make funeral plans far in advance, before sickness and
old age strikes and death becomes a reality.
My parents made
their own funeral plans when they turned 50. My dad used to smoke quite
heavily and he has worked the midnight shift for many years. Although
more recently, he has started to be more health conscious about his
diet, he spent many years overeating and sticking mainly to fatty,
fried foods. My mother too has had her health concerns. The worst of
which was a chemical exposure at work that resulted in her breathing
being compromised. Although this incident occurred nearly 15 years ago,
she is still hyper-sensitive to any harsh chemical. She is quite
worried what the impacts of this exposure will be on her long-term
health. Therefore, it was quite wise of my parents to go ahead and make
their funeral plans far in advance of any possible or likely calamity
that might strike in their later years. As their children, we
appreciate their foresight, since we know that we will be in
no shape to make funeral plans if and when one of our parents falls ill
and our family is faced with a death.
My husband and I are
only in our early 30's. We aren't quite ready to make funeral plans,
however, we have often discussed what might happen with our children
should untimely death befall us. Even the matter of who would take the
children in needs to be given some serious thought, since these issues
will be left to family to decide, should arrangements not be made prior
to an unfortunate accident.
Making funeral plans in advance is a difficult topic to bring up.
However, it's the smart thing to do and ensures that one's family will
be in the best position possible to deal with the death of a loved one.
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A Healthy Dose of Good Advice
