THE IMPORTANCE OF FUNERALS

For thousands of years, funerals have been a means of expressing our beliefs, thoughts, and feelings about the death of someone we love. If entering into the funeral process, you may find it helpful to remind yourself why we have funerals. The funeral ceremony:

• Helps us acknowledge that someone we love has died.

• Fosters our memories of the person who died and encourages us to share those memories with others. • Offers a time and place for us to talk about the life and death of the person who died.

• Provides a social support system for us and other friends and family members.

• Allows us to search for the meaning of life and death.

• Offers continuity and hope for the living. One of the most important gifts of planning a funeral is that it helps us and our family to focus our thoughts and feelings on something meaningful. The funeral encourages us to think about the person who died and to explore the meaning of their life and the ways in which they touched the lives of others. The remembering, deciding, and refl ecting that take place in the planning of the service are often an important part of the process of grief and mourning. And ultimately, this process of contemplation and discovery creates a memorable and moving funeral experience for all who attend.