Page A4 july 2024 800-535-8667 www.cherokeechildcaskets.com Receive 10% off when you buy 10 or more caskets and/or vaults By Nancy Weil Last month I shared the story of how my son became an unofficial funeral celebrant at his best friend’s memorial service. Having a mother who has worked in funeral service for a long time and is a Certified Funeral Celebrant, I was able to help him and his friends put together a service that was personal and healing. I want to share with you some of what we did, so that you can do an honest comparison of the funerals you hold. Are you asking the right questions of your direct cremation families? Are you giving suggestions on how to turn something simple into something memorable? Do you have on your staff or in your town a trained funeral celebrant? Can you give families that desire something “more” what they are looking for? • Family and Friends: Those closest to the deceased came together to offer their talents in order to pull together this event. One person gathered photos and put together a slide show. One played guitar as the service began and ended. Others offered to speak at the service. One was a graphic designer who made memorial cards to hand out. By working together and planning the event, they began to mourn their loss together in community and feel like they were doing something to honor the person they loved so much. • Speakers: When a family says they have some people who want to share a few words, we cringe a little bit inside. How long will they speak? Will they ramble on and on? Will it become a disorganized free for all? In this ceremony, each speaker was given guidelines and asked to write down their thoughts prior to the service. I coached my son on what to do if they broke down in tears and struggled to speak. I let him know how important it was for a person to look back at the service and remember the part they played in it. • Transitions: Rather than just some people going up one after the other to talk, this became an actual memorial service. Quotes, poems and words to link one speaker to the next all took shape as my son and I worked on the script. Once finRandom Musings Serving as Member Resources Director at the International Order of the Golden Rule, Nancy Weil brings her years of experience working in the funeral industry to funeral directors across the globe. Her professional experience includes serving as Director of Grief Support and Community Outreach at Veterans Funeral Care in Clearwater, FL and at eleven cemeteries in Western New York. Nancy travels throughout the country offering presentations on how to reduce stress, combat compassion fatigue and offer support for those who are grieving through her company, The Laugh Academy. With certifications as a Grief Services Provider and Grief Management Specialist, Funeral Celebrant, Soul Injury Ambassador and Laughter Leader, Nancy is uniquely qualified to bring new perspectives into how to best meet the needs of the families you serve. For more information on how Nancy can help you and your company grow, visit her website: www.TheLaughAcademy.com or email Nancy@ TheLaughAcademy.com. FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS www.NomisPublications.com Monthly Columnsonline at Funeral for a Friend (Part 2) ished this was printed to give to the family so they could remember what was said that day. • Focal Point: Creating a spot in the front for people to focus on is important. This used to be the casket, but more and more it is an urn on a pedestal. For the services I run, we usually have a table in front filled with photos and memorabilia that the family provides. • Ceremony: My son’s friend was very spiritual and so is his wife. I created a ceremony for the end of the service and built it into the script. We placed five bowls of various crystals in the front along with an explanation of what each one does (amethyst is for healing, jade for serenity, etc.) Next to this was a heart-shaped vase. Each person was asked to come forward and select a crystal and place it into the vase. Their energy would be held in the crystal and fill a vase the widow could take home with their loving thoughts and prayers. It also allowed each person to walk by the family in an informal receiving line. • Remembrance Gift: Rainbow colored bracelets were custom designed and given to each person who came to the service. This honored their friend’s favorite color (all of them!), line of work, name and what to do next: Spread Love. I always try to have something for people to take home with them to remember the service. Not just a prayer card, but a tangible item that reflects their loved one’s life. • Book of Stories: Every person was asked ahead of time to write down a favorite memory and place it into a book that the family could read in the years ahead. For those who did not bring one with them, there was time, along with specially designed paper, for them to write it down during the reception. • Blanket of Love: Funeral Home Gifts makes beautiful blankets filled with special photos and words to provide comfort on those long, lonely nights. Having worked at a funeral home where these are displayed at funerals, I have ordered them through the funeral home and they are always appreciated. When my mom died, my dad placed his blanket on their bed in the spot where she used to sleep. When my daughter’s elderly cat died, a blanket was made with her favorite photos of him. For this service the widow was surprised by the “friend group” with a blanket containing photos of special times so that she could wrap herself in their love. My son’s best friend died suddenly and tragically. We (me, my son, family and friends) put together a memorial that honored the person who died, provided a time to gather and share memories and helped each heart to heal a little bit. This special service should not be special. It is what each person deserves when they die. I urge you to be a part of providing personalized services to each family who wants one and to ask the right questions to find out if they do. Join Wreaths Across America’s Annual Giving in July Celebration COLUMBIA FALLS,ME— Wreaths Across America (WAA) has announced the kickoff of its annual Giving in July campaign! For WAA, this annual celebration is dedicated to local groups and individuals participating in the organization’s sponsorship group program. Through this unique program, supporters can help local programs make a difference in their communities with each $17 sponsorship to WAA. Since its founding in 2007, WAA has collaborated with hundreds of charities, community programs and civic groups nationwide to remember and honor our nation’s veterans and active-duty military all year. Giving in July celebrates these groups and highlights the opportunity to give back to them by sponsoring veterans’ wreaths. WAA has given back more than $25 million in local contributions through this national program over the last 16 years! “I have long said it would be disingenuous for us as an organization whose mission is to remember the fallen, honor those who serve, and teach the next generation the value of freedom if we do not support other like-minded programs doing just that in their communities,” said WAA executive director Karen Worcester. “Our sponsorship group program is a year-round effort, but through ‘Giving in July,’ we hope to remind people that veterans and our current military serve and protect us 365 days a year, and it is never too early to make a difference in your own community.” Follow the hashtag #GivinginJuly to learn the impactful stories of volunteers and sponsorship groups doing good in their communities and benefitting from dollars raised through wreath sponsorships. To locate a group in your community visit https://learn.wreathsacrossamerica.org/giving-in-july-2024. More than 4,250 locations will participate in National Wreaths Across America Day this year on Saturday, December 14, 2024. This free event is open to all, and the organization encourages community members to participate by volunteering locally or sponsoring a wreath for an American hero. Tune in to Wreaths Across America Radio to hear their stories, available on the iHeart Radio app, TuneIn, and the Audacy app, or at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/radio. @Nomis.Publications Like us on Like
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