When my grandmother died I was the one who had to make the calls. Not the call to tell people she was gone (my aunt did that, bless her) but where you call someone up and ask them to talk about her at the memorial. I had no idea what to say when it came … Read more
When a friend of mine lost their mom they sat with the parish music director and asked if they could play “Wind Beneath My Wings” as the casket was carried out. It was an important song for her and while the music director was so kind about it the answer was still no. She suggested … Read more
I’ve seen quite a few families stick to one rule when throwing a celebration of life – no slow songs until the very end. If the deceased was someone who spent their life dancing around their kitchen they would have hated a room full of people staring at their shoes while an organ droned on. … Read more
Sending out the funeral details after a loss can seem like the easy part. Bit it isn’t. A funeral announcement isn’t quite the same as telling people someone has died, and it isn’t the same as a formal invitation either. It’s the message that tells people where to be, when to be there and what … Read more
When my friend lost her mom she got stuck on the music. She said something that feels very patient – “every song I pick feels like it’s either too sad or not sad enough”. She chose “You Are My Sunshine” in the end because her mom used to sing it while doing housework as well … Read more
When a friend of mines dad died she told me the hardest decision when planning the funeral wasn’t the casket or the flowers. It was the music. She went through her dad old phone looking at playlists he’d made for road trips trying to pick the one song that would sum up seventy eight years … Read more
Many people aren’t religious. They never believed and so would hate religion to be a part of their funeral. But not including anything religious in a funeral can be harder than you might expect. For poems you could go through tons of them and every time you find one you love come to the last … Read more
Sometimes after a loss you can be asked to do a Bible reading at the funeral. But that’s quite vague and leaves you to have to decide what to choose. So if you’ve been asked to choose or read scripture at a funeral I hope this guide helps you find the right one. Below you’ll … Read more
A neighbor of mine lost his wife a few years ago. I really struggled with what to say in a sympathy card for him. We weren’t close but had waved at each other and had brief chats. I didn’t know that much about either of them though. So what do you write to someone you … Read more
When my neighbor lost her cat I went over with a card. I’d written the sympathy message over and over before I was happy with what I had. Her cat was a big orange tabby who used to sit in her front window every afternoon like he was supervising the whole street. She had him … Read more