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The Painless Way to 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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