You Need a Cleaner When You Die

Before funerals at funeral homes in Bedford, OH, you need to enlist a cleaner (someone you trust and who is technically adept) to clean your physical house and clean your digital house to eliminate anything that might create problems after your death.

This cleaner is not your run-of-the-mill cleaner. Their job is to go through closets, dresser drawers, medicine cabinets, office desks, etc. and remove anything that could cause potential problems with your family members. They are tasked with destroying everything they remove that you direct them to destroy.

This person is also responsible for cleaning your digital house. Every time you do anything online, you leave behind traces of data. These are known as crumbs, and they stay around years after you leave them.

You may not have any particularly incriminating or embarrassing crumbs of data in your online past. If you do, then you’ll definitely want to get those cleaned up before you die. But crumbs of data give other people too much information about you, and if that information should fall into the wrong hands then you could be a target for some kind of fraudulent activity.

Additionally, most of us have been online for 20 or more years. What you left behind 20 or more years ago may not reflect anything about you now. So, you will want to clean up the old you before you die (this is common advice to college graduates who are looking for employment and who have social media accounts that are 10 or 15 years old, and which may not show them in the most flattering light to potential employers).

In the same way that you wouldn’t want old love letters or other very personal things read by other people, you don’t want to leave that kind of information in your digital house when you die.

The four reasons that you need to clean your physical house and your digital house are to ensure that you have not left anything that is dangerous, that is illegal, that is embarrassing, or that is secret.

Dangerous things in your physical house include things like prescription medications that would pose a potential safety threat to other people. These would include things like painkillers, antidepressants, and anxiety medication.

Illegal items in your physical house are things that are not allowed under federal, state, or local laws and which could get you arrested.

Embarrassing things in your physical house include anything that you wouldn’t display in the open when you have friends and family members over.

There may be embarrassing things in your digital house as well. These would include pictures posted on social media, pictures on your smartphone, text messages, social media posts, and emails you wouldn’t want everyone to see.

Embarrassing things don’t necessarily have to be anything racy. But they could be things that are offensive to others or that demean others.

Secret things in your physical house could include family information, such as a previous marriage that no one knew about or adoption that no one knew about, private affiliations with groups that are secretive by nature, or affiliations with groups that your family and friends would find offensive, or relationships that your family and friends know nothing about.

Your cleaner must have access to both your physical house and your digital house. This means they need to have keys to get into your physical house and passwords to get into your digital house.

If you’d like to learn more funeral planning at funeral homes in Bedford, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

Meaningful Memorials for a Deceased Loved One

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After cremation services in Bedford Heights, OH, there will not be a time when you don’t remember the empty place that’s left when your loved one dies. However, there will be times when that loss is felt more strongly than at other times.

There are many ways to create meaningful memorials for your deceased loved one. These are ways to recognize both their presence and impact in your life and their absence from your life.

One way that you can create a meaningful memorial for your deceased loved one is with a memorial brick. If your loved one was a military veteran or if they belonged to the church or an alumnus of a college or university, you may be able to have a memorial brick inscribed with their name and date of birth and date of death placed permanently in a public park, on the church grounds, or at the university or college.

You can check with the institution or organization where you would like to place your loved one’s memorial brick to see if that is something that can be arranged.

Another way to remember your loved one who has died is to create a living memorial. Using a portion of their cremation remains, you can plant a flower or a tree either in a public space or in your own backyard. As the flower or treat grows, you will have a constant reminder, as well as a permanent memorial, of your loved one.

It is not uncommon if your loved one was killed in a traffic accident, to create a roadside memorial to commemorate the place where they died. Most roadside memorials arise spontaneously, created by friends and family members of your loved one.

Most of these memorials are temporary. If you would like a permanent memorial, you may need to get permission from the Department of Transportation or from the property owner. One thing that you need to be aware of with roadside memorials is that they should not be too close to the road nor should they be so distracting that they could possibly cause future vehicle accidents.

Memorial gardens are a popular way to remember your loved one who has died. You can designate a spot on the property around her house dedicated to your loved one. You might include a bench that has an inscription to your loved one or you might include a birdbath with a fountain or birdhouses in this spot.

A memorial garden should be a place that’s peaceful and that reminds you of the good memories and the good times that you had with your loved one. So, be sure to include things that remind them of you and remind you of your life with them.

Another way that you can remember your loved one is to create a memorial for them at important family celebrations. It is not uncommon for families to leave an empty chair at the dinner table during the Thanksgiving meal or Christmas meal.

You may want to celebrate their birthday or an important anniversary every year by having close friends and family members gather to share food and share memories of your loved one.

Couples who are getting married traditionally leave an empty seat at the service and at the reception to commemorate the loved one – whether it’s a parent or grandparent – who has died and who is absent.

For more information about creating memorials and cremation services Bedford Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

Leading Causes of Death in the United States

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Many funerals at funeral homes in Bedford Heights, OH are the result of one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Despite being a nation that should have the benefits that lead to better health – and more natural lifespans and causes of death – much of access to those benefits is unequal or unattainable.

The top cause of death in America is heart disease. Heart disease accounts for almost 650,000 (or about 23%) of American deaths each year. Of these heart-related deaths, about two-thirds are from coronary artery disease (a condition in which the major blood vessels of the heart become damaged or diseased).

Risk factors for developing heart disease include a family history of heart disease, obesity, and smoking. Men are more likely to develop heart disease than women and people over the age of 55 are more susceptible to developing heart disease.

You can lower your risk of developing heart disease by making lifestyle changes. These include eating a healthier diet, exercising at least two and a half hours a week, losing weight, and abstaining from smoking.

The second most common cause of death in the United States is cancer. Almost 600,000 (or almost 22%) Americans die each year from cancer. Although each type of cancer has specific risk factors associated with it, the are some common risk factors that make developing any kind of cancer more likely.

These include a family history of cancer, obesity, tobacco use (smoking, chewing, dipping, etc.), excessive exposure to sunlight or radiation, and chronic inflammation. The genesis of all cancers is tumors (which may be benign or may become malignant), which develop when normal cells in your body start replicating in a rapid and uncontrolled manner.

Although there are no sure ways to avoid developing cancer, there are some things that you can do to lessen your risk. One way is to eat a healthy diet (eliminate highly-processed and high-fat/high-salt/high-sugar foods and replace them with whole grains, nuts, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruits).

Other ways are to avoid too much exposure to the sun, exercise on a regular basis, drink alcohol in moderation, and eliminate tobacco products.

The third most common cause of American deaths is accidents. Accidents are unintentional injuries. Death from accidents occurs when those unintentional injuries are so severe that life can’t be sustained. More than 160,000 (or almost 6%) people in the United States die each year as the result of accidents.

Men are much more likely to die in accidents, as are people under 45, and people who work in high-risk professions (such as manufacturing, construction, law enforcement, and careers that require a lot of driving).

Accidents result in over 28 million emergency department visits in the United States on an annual basis. Deaths from accidents are most commonly from unintentional falls, unintentional poisoning, and traffic collisions.

While not all accidents can be prevented, some can be. Carelessness is often a reason why accidents occur. Therefore, to help prevent accidents from happening, you should exercise proper precautions for whatever you’re doing all the time.

Follow safety rules or guidelines (such as wearing a seatbelt while you are traveling in a vehicle) proactively to protect yourself as best you can from being the victim of an accident or dying as the result of an accident.

If you’d need information on funeral planning at funeral homes in Bedford Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

When Your Loved One Dies

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Before cremations as part of cremation services offered in Cleveland, OH, there are several things that you and your family will need to do as soon as possible after your loved one dies.

The first thing that you will need to do after your loved one dies is to obtain a legal pronouncement of death. If your loved one died in a hospital, the medical staff pronounce them die and note the time when they died. However, if your loved one died at home and was not under hospice care, then you should call emergency services. Your loved one will be transported to the hospital where they will be legally pronounced dead.

If your loved one was in hospice care at home, then the hospice care agency should be called. A medical professional from the hospice agency will come to your home and they will pronounce your loved one’s death. They will also prepare your loved one’s body for transportation to the funeral home and will notify the funeral home when your loved one is ready to be taken to the funeral home.

If your loved one is an organ donor and is admitted to the hospital during the final days of their illness or is in the process of dying when they are admitted to the hospital, make sure that the hospital knows they are an organ donor. Organ transplants can take up to 48 hours to arrange, so hospital personnel needs to be able to take appropriate action the maintain organ viability while those transplants are being set up.

If your loved one is an organ donor and died at home, but was not under hospice care, contact the closest hospital to let them know and be sure to let first responders also know. If your loved one was in hospice care at home and is an organ donor, make sure to remind the hospice agency when you contact them.

Next, you’ll need to contact immediate family and close friends to let them know your loved one has died. The most personal way to do this is with phone calls, although some families are okay with texts or emails. Assign each family member there a group of people to notify, so that you’re not doing all the notifications by yourself. Do not announce the death on social media until everyone who needs to know about death has been personally contacted.

The next thing that will be done is arrangements made with the funeral home for transporting your loved one’s body. The hospital will make these arrangements if your loved one died in the hospital or was pronounced dead at the hospital. If your loved one was in-home hospice care, the responding hospice medical professional will make these arrangements.

After these things have been done, you will need to make sure pets and dependents, if applicable, are cared for. Usually, family members will ensure sure that all dependents and pets have a place to stay temporarily until long-term plans can be formulated.

If your loved one lived by themselves, be sure that all of their property is secured. If you are able, have a family member or close friend stay at their home until a time when decisions can be made about what to do with the property (keep it or sell it).

If your loved one who has died was still working, you will need to let their employer’s Human Resources department know that they have died. Be sure to remember to ask about any pay your loved one is still owed, any benefits that they are entitled to, and whether they had a life insurance policy through their employer.

For information about cremation services in Cleveland, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

Be Prepared for the End of Life

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Before funerals at funeral homes in Cleveland, OH, being prepared for the end of life is something that everyone should make a priority. While some people prepare for the end of their lives before the onset of aging and/or poor health, many people do not.

If you don’t prepare for the end of your life, then you place a heavy burden on your family. They will have to make decisions based on what they think you might have wanted, and that creates a lot of unnecessary stress for them, as they are also working to give you care and be there for you.

If you don’t have a will or living trust, for example, your estate will go into probate. What that means is that all of your assets – bank accounts, retirement accounts, property, etc. – will be frozen and no one (unless a family member also has access to them by being on the accounts or co-owner) can touch them until the court says so.

Having your estate goes into probate will create financial hardships for your family. You might have outstanding financial obligations that they can’t pay. In addition, if you don’t have a will, then the courts, not you, will decide how your estate is divided among your surviving family members.

If you don’t have a medical power of attorney in place, then there will be no one you trust to advocate on your behalf in medical matters if you are not able to advocate for yourself. This may mean that even though your family members know what you want in terms of medical care because you don’t have a legal document that gives them the right to enforce your wishes, you may receive the medical care you don’t want or, perhaps, even need.

If you don’t have a living will, then medical professionals are bound to take all measures necessary to keep you alive if you are dying, whether that is what you want or not.

If you have these, then you’ve made a good start. But there are other things you need to consider when preparing for the end of life.

One of these things is to make a palliative care plan. Palliative care is the middle step between home health care (after an acute illness) and hospice care (death is imminent). Palliative care offers all the same services like home health care, except that nurse visits are cut down to once a week.

Another thing you need to do to prepare for the end of your life is to document all your online account information (websites, usernames and passwords, WiFi passwords, bank account numbers and PINs, medical IDs, and insurance policy numbers).

While many smartphones offer fingerprint access to unlock the phones, if you choose this method your survivors will not be able to unlock your phone after your death. It’s wiser to choose a numeric pin so that they will be able to retrieve contacts, voicemails, and text messages.

Documenting your online presence will help family members who will be managing your online presence (social media, blogs, etc.), online banking, financial assets, and businesses that are online. You can use a free password manager to manage all of these.

Finally, you should plan your funeral. You can either write out the details of what you want at your funeral or you can visit with your funeral home and do the preplanning for your funeral with them. This will be a great gift to your loved ones who don’t have to grieve your death and try to plan your funeral as well.

If you’d like to learn more about preparing for funerals at funeral homes in Cleveland, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

Ways You Can Use Your Loved One’s Cremation Remains

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After cremation services in Shaker Heights, OH, you may be looking for meaningful ways to use your loved one’s cremation remains, instead of only having them placed in an urn that you keep in a prominent place in your home. There a wide variety of ways to use your loved one’s cremation remains.

One way you can use your loved one’s cremation remains is to have them made into wearable memorial jewelry. Whether you choose a bracelet, a necklace, or a ring, a small amount of your loved one’s cremation remains are set within the jewelry so that when you wear it, you carry a part of your loved one with you.

Some people use their loved ones’ cremation remains in a celebratory way and have them infused into fireworks. There are specialty fireworks companies that will create these types of fireworks and then will put together a pyrotechnic display to honor and remember your loved one.

If your loved one was concerned about the environment and the delicate balance of the Earth’s ecological system, you can show this passion by having their cremation remains incorporated into artificial reefs that are placed on ocean floors. These reefs are designed to create sustainable environments for marine life.

Another way to use your loved one’s cremation remains is to get a tattoo to memorialize them using a tattooing studio that can create the custom inks for your tattoo using your loved one’s cremation remains.

Biodegradable urns are another great option for your loved one’s cremation remains. These urns have nutrient-rich soil that is mixed with the cremation remains. A plant or tree seed is planted in the urn, and then you just plant it in the ground. You get the double value of something living and a permanent memorial for your loved one.

For music lovers, a really neat option is to have your loved one’s cremation remains pressed into a vinyl record filled with the music they loved, the music you shared together, or the music they played if they were musicians. You can have customized artwork adorn the album cover. The end result is a great keepsake.

Another interesting way to use your loved one’s cremation remains is to have a cremation portrait commissioned that will use the cremation remains as a part of the paint they use. You can find many professional artists who are skilled at making these portraits on the internet. Once the portrait is complete, you have a permanent keepsake of your loved one that you can display in your home.

You can also bury your loved one’s cremation remains. Most cemeteries permit the burial of urns in cemetery plots or they have a special section of the cemetery, called an urn garden, where urns can be buried.

It is not unusual, for example, for spouses to have to different types of funeral dispositions if they die several years apart from each other. The spouse who died first may have had a traditional burial, while the spouse who dies now is cremated. However, they wanted to be together in death as they were in life, so by burying the urn in a plot beside the first spouse who died can fulfill what they wished.

For more information about cremation services in Shaker Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

Planning a Funeral for a Military Veteran

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Some of the funerals at funeral homes in Shaker Heights, OH are for men and women who have bravely and proudly served in the armed forces of the United States to protect and defend our country. Whether they served in the military for just one tour or they served many years and retired, military veterans are entitled to funeral benefits when they die.

If your deceased loved one is a military veteran, they are entitled to free burial at a national cemetery. Your funeral home will make all the arrangements for the burial with the local Department of Veterans Affairs.

A free grave marker will be placed on your loved one’s gravesite, and military honors will be presented. If you are a spouse or dependent of the deceased military veteran, you are also entitled to free burial in the same national cemetery as well.

Military honors consist of the presentation of the American flag to a family member during the funeral service or graveside service by military personnel or by a local veterans organization. Military honors also include a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps.”

Your funeral director will ensure that all these arrangements are made in advance of the funeral service or graveside service so that everything that you want to make sure that your deceased loved one’s military service to the United States is highlighted and honored is done flawlessly.

There are also some other services out of the Department of Veterans Affairs that your funeral director can have in place at your loved one’s funeral or graveside service. One of these is having the local chapter of the Patriot Guard Riders to provide an honor guard at your loved one’s funeral service or graveside service.

Patriot Guard Riders were formed in 2005 to protect deceased military veterans’ families from the Westboro Baptist Church protestors. These protesters began showing up at funerals for military veterans who had died during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They claimed these deaths of American service people were God’s retribution for America’s sins.

These protests were so disruptive and frightening that the Patriot Guard Riders took it upon themselves to literally form a human shield around the funerals of military veterans so that their families and other mourners could peacefully say goodbye to their loved ones.

While there are few such protests today at the funerals of military veterans, the Patriot Guard Riders continue to perform the service of being an honor guard at the funeral services for members of the armed forces.

They are also engaged in making sure that military veterans are welcomed home when they are returning from overseas duty and serving as volunteers in veterans organizations that support military personnel once they are back in the United States. They also have a charitable arm that helps military families who are in financial need.

If your deceased loved one is a military veteran, then you will need to bring their military separation papers (Form DD-214) to the funeral home when you meet with the funeral director to make funeral arrangements.

If for some reason, you don’t have their military discharge papers, you can go to the government’s Veterans’ Service Records page to request them. If your loved one served in the military between 1952 and 1969, the records may not be available online because of a major fire in the St. Louis archive building. However, your local Department of Veterans Affairs can help you locate the DD-214.

If you’d like to learn more about military funerals at funeral homes in Shaker Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

Talking about Death Doesn’t Have to be Sad

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Before cremations as part of cremation services offered in Warrensville Heights, OH, you should think about your death and talk about your death with your loved ones. You may think that if you think about death, you’ll get sad. You may think if you talk with your family about your death, they’ll be sad.

The reality is that you’re going to die. You don’t know when your death will happen, but you know that it will. By thinking about it, you acknowledge an inevitable fact of your life and you own it. By talking with your family about your death, you give them the gift of knowing that you have prepared for it and there will be less “stuff” for them to do when you do die. They can place their focus on honoring your memory and on carrying on your legacy in their own lives.

When you reframe thinking about and talking about death in this light, the sadness that you and your family may associate with death is not a factor. Instead, it’s a point of deeper connection and appreciation for the life you have left.

So, where should you start? Make sure you have a plan for what you want to be done after you die. Not only should this include your funeral arrangements, but it should also include what kind of memorials you’d like (for instance, if there are certain causes or charities that you want contributions to be made to in your name, then specify those) and who you want to receive any special items that you own that are not included in your will or trust.

While you don’t have to make your funeral arrangements for your cremation and cremation services and cremation remains with your funeral home beforehand, if you do, then the funeral home will already have your information and wishes on file.

This will make it much easier for your family when they meet with the funeral home after your death because they will already have most of the information that they need to take care of all the arrangements.

If you decide just to simply plan your funeral arrangements on your own, be sure to write everything down in detail. Describe whether you want a cremation followed by a service or you want a service before you’re cremated.

Describe the type of cremation service you want. Include all the elements you’d like to include, making sure to specify any particular readings, scriptures, or songs you’d like to have played.

Decide what you want to be done with your cremation remains. Since your cremation remains can be used in several ways, decide whether you want some of them scattered or buried, some of them sealed in an urn or in keepsakes for your family, some of them made into memorial jewelry, or some of them used to create a living memorial.

Make sure all your important paperwork is up to date and is together in one place. Not only should this paperwork include your funeral arrangements, but it should also include your will or trust, property deeds, life insurance policies, and access to your online accounts.

Sit down and talk with your family about your preparations. Let them know that you’ve done this because you love them, and you want to make the process of saying goodbye as easy as possible for them. Make sure everyone knows who has access to your paperwork and who you want to take the lead in making sure everything is done according to your wishes.

For more information about cremation services in Warrensville Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

After Death

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After funerals at funeral homes in Warrensville Heights, OH, it is not unusual, especially for people who’ve lost someone they’ve spent many years with, such as a spouse, to feel disoriented and lost and unsure of anything that lies ahead.

When two people spend so many years together, they still retain their individual identities, but their identity as a couple becomes the predominant identity they have and their lives merge in a way that becomes a whole.

The death of a spouse breaks that whole in half and erases the couple’s identity, leaving the surviving spouse feeling like the rug has been pulled out from under them. This is, in fact, exactly what has happened.

It won’t feel comfortable for a while and it may be a bewildering process to get used to being alone, being on your own, and being solely responsible for everything in and around your life again.

While you’ll not grieve the loss of your spouse, your soulmate, and your best friend, you can find a new – or discover some neglected pasts – journey forward after they die.

First, take the time to grieve and to adjust. Jumping right into busyness after the death of a spouse to avoid dealing with the reality of their death is very unhealthy. Instead of dealing with grief in a natural and normal way, you instead avoid grief by putting it on hold.

The problem with this is that grief never goes away – even when it does get easier – and by not dealing with it at the moment, you are ensuring that it will be even harder to deal with in the future when you can’t avoid it anymore.

So, what can you do to move forward as your new life without your loved one is something you realize is your new normal?

Think back to when you were younger, before you were married or before you had children. Did you have a passion or a hobby that you gradually moved away from in your new roles as a spouse and as a parent? It may be time to rediscover that passion or hobby or find a new one.

Many people find that hobbies and passions they enjoyed early in life bring them great solace and peace after the death of a loved one. However, you may find that you want to try a new hobby or learn something new to make a completely fresh start.

Another thing you can do is get involved in something meaningful that gives you a chance to give something to others. Volunteering is a great way to do this. There are many ways to volunteer in your community and to help and to serve other people.

Consider volunteering for a local charity or volunteering to help children or senior citizens. The act of service not only benefits others, but it can also be very fulfilling for you as you actively work to make a positive difference in other people’s lives.

Get active. No matter what age you are when you lose your loved one, there will be a way to get physically active. Even if you take a 30-minute walk every day around your neighborhood or at a public park, being physically active and being outdoors will give you both better health and a better sense of well-being.

If you’d like to learn more about what to do after death at funeral homes in Warrensville Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

What Do You Need to Know about Cremation?

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Cremation is among the cremation services offered in Cleveland, OH, but you may not know all the options you have with cremation or what choices you have for using cremations remains. Here’s a definitive guide.

Cremations are becoming much more popular than traditional funerals in the United States. There are many reasons for this.

First, cemeteries and graveyards are reaching capacity, especially in urban areas, and many of them don’t have the room or the money to expand their capacity. This makes cremation a much more viable option for many people.

Another reason why cremations are becoming more popular is that an urn with cremation remains is easier to transport than a casket with a body. Americans have become very mobile over the last 75 years and that mobility has taken them far away from hometowns and family homes (as well as family cemeteries).

It’s not unusual for people to want to go home after they die. But when they’re far, far away from home when they die, it can be quite cumbersome (although not undoable) to get them from the funeral home where they are to the funeral home in the place where they want to be buried if they’re in a casket.

However, when a person is cremated, their remains can be easily transported by a family member or a friend from one place to another, and that makes going home a much easier thing to accomplish.

Direct cremations (cremations without a service) are the most popular kind of cremations. The reason for this is that a service can be held any time after the cremation has been done (in some cases, weeks, months, or even years later), and the family can take the time they need to plan the service they want.

However, a viewing or visitation and funeral service can be held before a loved one is cremated if that’s what the family wants. In this way, everything is exactly the same as a traditional burial, except that cremation takes place after the service instead of burial in a cemetery.

Another thing to know about cremations is that the cremation remains of a loved one can be used in several different ways.

First, a portion of the cremation remains can be placed in an indoors decorative urn and given to the family to keep or in an outdoors urn that can either be stored in a columbarium niche or buried in a grave plot in a cemetery.

Cemetery burials of urns are often done when other family members and/or a spouse have already died and been buried in a cemetery. As with a casket burial, the urn burial will require a vault to keep the gravesite stable and to protect the urn from damage.

Other portions of the cremation remains can be used in other ways. One of these is scattering, which is a ceremony where the cremation remains are poured out in a place that was special to the deceased.

A portion of the cremation remains can be used to make wearable jewelry for friends and family members so that their loved one is always close by them.

A portion of the cremation remains can also be used to make a living memorial, such as a plant or tree, by mixing it with soil and a seed. This can become a place that family and friends can visit to pay their respects to the deceased.

For more information about cremation services Cleveland, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help.

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