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When Grief is Too Much

Grief resources are among the cremation services provided in Warrensville Heights, OH. When a loved one dies, intense grief and mourning are the natural human emotions that are evoked. When they are expressed and processed in a safe and supportive environment, healing occurs as the nature of grief is transformed into memories and the hope of seeing our loved ones again.

However, some people believe that showing grief makes them look weak, which, in turn makes them feel more vulnerable. And when people feel vulnerable, they can also feel powerless.

The Western world has indoctrinated us with the idea that we can’t show emotions because they will leave us exposed as a target for bullying, derision, and even potential violence. Therefore, we’re taught at an early age to hide our emotions and our feelings and act as though we don’t have them.

Boys are taught at a very early age not to cry. When they fall down and skin their knees or get a few bumps and bruises, they’re told, “Buck up and take it like a man.” If they do cry, they are often called sissies or crybabies, something no boy ever wants to hear. This indoctrination is so intense that by the time boys become men, they’ve become very adept at stuffing every emotional reaction deep inside and putting on the stoic face of indifference.

Girls are allowed to cry and get upset when they’re very young. But as they mature, the same limits that are imposed on boys start being applied to them. Women who cry and who express their emotions publicly are held in less regard than women who put on the same stoic face of indifference as men.

However, the intense grief of losing somebody you love makes it very hard to uphold the Western tradition of stoic indifference. Losing somebody that you love hurts deeply. It not only rips your heart out, but it tears your soul in two. Containing that kind of emotion is virtually impossible.

But in some cases, some of us still try to stuff all those emotions down and carry on as if nothing has happened. In men, this is often expressed as silence. They simply don’t talk about it. In women, this is often expressed as busyness. They simply stay is busy as possible to avoid having to think about or feel grief.

Because grief is an expression of love, trying to contain it, deny it, or avoid it takes a serious toll on us physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The physical toll of suppressing grief manifests itself in health problems. Blood pressure goes up, headaches abound, fatigue nags constantly, stomach issues arise, and sleep often eludes us. This may, in turn, cause us to seek relief in alcohol and drugs, which create more physical health problems.

The mental and emotional toll is immeasurable, and can actually result in severe depression and even suicidal thoughts.

Grief demands our attention. If we choose to ignore it, we do so at our own peril. We are denying a basic part of what makes us human, but all the denial in the world will not make it go away. It’s better to deal with it immediately and reap the benefits of healthy grief processing.

If you’d like to learn about grief resources and cremation services in Warrensville Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit us at our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

Unusual Funeral Processions

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Most funeral processions at funeral homes in Shaker Heights, OH proceed in the usual slow-moving, dignified last ride from the funeral home to the cemetery where the deceased will be laid to rest.

But some people have come up with creative ways to make the last trip.

In April 2019, a convoy of garbage trucks went with the coffin to the cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. The deceased was Ronnie Davis, one of the drivers for the trash collection company, Republic. His job was to empty metal waste containers for commercial customers.

When Mr. Davis died unexpectedly in late March, his coworkers decided to organize a funeral procession for him. So instead of the usual line of passenger cars behind the hearse, a dozen garbage trucks made their way to Oak Hill Cemetery. The first truck behind the hearse was the truck that Mr. Davis normally drove. A black wreath was attached to the grill of the truck. All the drivers in the funeral procession blew their horns as they drove to the cemetery, as a sign that they valued and admired Mr. Davis.

In 1994, at the San Marino Grand Prix Formula One car race, Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna da Silva, who was considered to be one of the top racecar drivers of all time, was in the lead when he missed a tight corner in the seventh lap and flew off the track hitting a concrete retaining wall. At a speed of 135 miles an hour, Senna didn’t stand a chance. He was declared dead at a nearby hospital.

The government of Brazil declared three days for the nation to mourn its native son. When Senna’s body arrived at the airport, a huge funeral procession accompanied him for the 20-mile trip to Sao Paulo. In Sao Paulo, about three million people poured into the streets to get a glimpse of Senna’s coffin going past. It was perhaps the single largest group of mourners up until that time.

However, having large groups of mourners assemble for a funeral procession is not an unusual event in history. When philosopher Voltaire died in France in 1778, approximately one million people were thought to have joined his funeral procession. Voltaire’s funeral procession included an orchestra that featured a tuba.

When the Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran’s Supreme Leader, died in 1989, the number of people who joined his funeral procession was almost four million. They came in spite of oppressive heat and a crush of people that jostled up against each other for miles. The mourners wailed, beat themselves, and chanted as they express their grief for their fallen leader. The heat was so bad that firetrucks lined the procession route so that they could spray water on the crowd for relief. The crush of the mob of people was so great that eight people died and 400 people were injured.

With Amish people in America, funeral processions are quite simple. There are no flowers, no eulogies, and no music. Instead, a hymn is read and everyone prays at the gravesite. Graves are dug by hand and the deceased are entombed in simple wood boxes. There are no adornments on the graves, since this is seen as a symbol of status and wealth, which the Amish shun.

For more ideas about funeral processions at funeral homes in Shaker Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH 44123, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

How to Help Bereaved Families

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Helping bereaved families is among the cremation services provided in Warrensville Heights, OH. However, friends and family are involved in the process as well, even though we don’t always know exactly what to do. We can fall back on clichés, like “just let me know if you need anything,” or “I’m here if you need me,” but we seldom, if ever, will hear anything from a family that’s grieving.

In part, that’s because they don’t know what they need. And, in part, that’s because they know people say those phrases without thinking, so they don’t expect follow through on them in the weeks and months ahead when needs do arise.

So here are some ways, we can take the initiative to actually do something helpful for a bereaved family.

Send them something. While most people will send flowers to the memorial service, they don’t often think about the more practical needs the grieving family may have. You can start a food chain, where people rotate delivering home-cooked meals every day for the first few weeks after someone has died. The easiest way to do this is to have a large box, along with a cooler filled with ice, set up by the front door, where people can drop off food and drinks without disturbing the family.

Be sure to include breakfast and lunch items, as well as coffee, tea, and water among the drinks. People who are grieving can forget to eat and forget to stay hydrated or they can depend on fast food or snack foods and sodas to keep them fueled because they’re easy and they’re available. Make sure the bereaved family has nutritious food and drink choices is a fantastic way to help them out.

Send them some groceries. Many stores now do home deliveries, so you can also buy food and home staples so that their pantries are stocked and they have enough toilet paper and paper towels.

Another way to help grieving families is to offer practical support. Often, the loved one who has died handled certain things in the home, and the rest of the family may be at a loss of how to proceed forward. Take care of yardwork or offer to take the car in for an oil change and tune-up. If children and pets are part of the family, then offer to babysit or pet sit, or simply, if the pets are dogs, to walk them several times a day.

You can also help a bereaved family in practical ways like helping them go through their loved one’s things to decide what to keep, what to donate, and what to throw away. Then you can take the donation items to the places they are being given to. You can also help the family assume new responsibilities, like finances, cooking, and childcare, if those are areas in which you have expertise. Some people don’t want to be alone after a loved one dies, so you could offer to let them stay with you until they’re comfortable being back in their home.

Most of all, you can help a grief family by being there, physically and emotionally. Call them up and ask to visit – looking for opportunities to help – and call or text them often to let them know that you are available for them. Don’t be vague. Tell them you love them and you want to help and support them. And then do it.

If you’d like to learn about cremation services in Warrensville Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit us at our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

Make Mother’s Day Special

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After the funeral of your mom at funeral homes in Warrensville Heights, OH, dealing with Mother’s Day each year can be difficult. For a month or so before the second Sunday in May, we’re inundated with reminders about Mother’s Day and all the things we should or ought to be buying for our moms or doing with our moms.

But for those of us who’ve lost our moms, these constant reminders can accentuate our grief and remind us of just how much we’ve lost and how much we miss our moms. But we can do things that will make Mother’s Day special for us and that will honor our moms who are no longer here.

One idea is to find ways to remember your mom. Take your favorite photo of her and display it in a prominent place in your home. Surround it with candles and flowers for the day. If you have your mom’s jewelry, find her most favorite piece and wear it that day. Volunteer with or make a donation to a charity or a cause that was important to your mom. Do activities that you used to share with your mom. If you used to help her with the flowers around the house, plant a flower or a bush in a special corner of the yard to remember her by.

Another way to make Mother’s Day special is to sit down and write to your mom. Whether you’re using pen and paper, a word processing program, or an online blog (you can make entries private if the blog is public and you just want to write the entry, but not post it), tell your mom what’s going on. Tell her how much you miss her and why. If there are things that you wished you’d told your mom before she died, tell her now. Let your mom know how life has been for you the past year, making sure to include anything that she would have encouraged you with, comforted you for, and applauded your efforts in.

Many people who’ve lost their moms make Mother’s Day special by inviting family and close friends who knew their moms over for a meal and to share stories about their mom. Too often, because we’re so consumed with busyness and the technological distractions that are everywhere, we forget to communicate with our children about their grandparents: who they were, what they were like, what was special about them, and the lessons that we learned. We lose a part of our own history when we don’t do this, so setting aside Mother’s Day to tell our moms’ histories is a great way to keep their memories alive.

Make Mother’s Day special by being kind to yourself. It’s hard when you’re around people who are talking about their plans with their moms and your mom isn’t here to make plans with. It’s okay to feel sad and to cry, but spend time out in nature, remembering your mom. Incorporate some quiet time where you can read or meditate or pray. Cook your favorite meal that your mom made as comfort food when you were growing up. Forget the diet for this one day, if it’s not particularly healthy, and remember all the love your mom put into that meal each time she made it.

For more ideas for celebrating moms who’ve died after funerals at funeral homes in Warrensville Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH 44123, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

Mourning Clothes

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Guidance for mourning clothes is among the cremation services offered in Cleveland, OH. Although many fashion traditions associated with death have been made more casual, many people still believe there – and they dress in accordance with this belief – are appropriate ways to dress to honor the dead.

Whether you’re having a funeral service before cremation or a memorial service after cremation, funeral fashion history will be an integral part of that. In the Western world, black has symbolized bereaved for the last 500 years. It is customary to wear black at funeral or memorial services and then perhaps wear more of it for several months after the death of a loved one.

Although the custom of wearing black as a symbol of grief began with royalty and aristocracy in Europe, eventually it was adopted as the standard color for bereavement.

Wearing black clothing has many times been a social statement. Beatniks, for example, wore black clothes during the 1950’s to distinguish themselves from the rest of the population. In medieval times, wealthy Spanish gentleman wore black velvet as a symbol of status. And the late Johnny Cash took on the moniker of The Man in Black, saying that he wore black to highlight political and social problems, poverty, and tribulation in life.

During medieval times, there were very strict rules for royalty and the aristocracy concerning fashion. This extended to what people wore after a loved one died. Not only did everyone in the funeral wear black, but the immediate family wore black for a society-specified bereavement period. Women who were widowed wore black (and then shades of gray as time passed) much longer than men who were widowed.

In the 1800’s, as the middle class arose, black clothing became standard for all European and American funerals. However, during the reign of British Queen Victoria, very elaborate types of black clothing were made specifically for funerals and worn throughout an extended period of bereavement.

As the Lost Generation raged through the 1920s, much of the very specific type of funeral clothing that had predominated funerals for the past several centuries was replaced by simple black clothing: black suits, hats, and ties for me and modest black dresses for women.

Because black clothing worn by a family who has lost a loved one is a symbol of bereavement, it engenders respect, gentleness, compassion, and kindness. And mourners who wear black clothing to a funeral service or memorial service are also showing honor and respect for both the bereaved family and the person who has died.

Black clothing should be simple and unadorned, since the focus is on the family that’s grieving and not on the mourners.

For men, a dress shirt, black pants, a black jacket, and black dress shoes is appropriate to wear to a funeral service or memorial service. Avoid dress shirts that require cufflinks, as jewelry tends to take attention away from the family. Women can wear a simple black pantsuit or black dress with low-heeled shoes. If the dress is short-sleeved or sleeveless, a shawl or jacket should be worn with it. Small earrings and a watch are okay to wear, but other more noticeable jewelry should not be worn.

Guidance for mourning is among the cremation services offered in Cleveland, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit us at our funeral home at 2155 E. 89th Street, Cleveland, OH 44106, or you can call us today at (216) 791-0770.

The Symbolism of Funeral Flowers

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When selecting flowers for funerals at funeral homes in Cleveland, OH, knowing what the most commonly-used flowers symbolize can help you make the best choice to show respect to the deceased and to offer comfort to the grieving family.

Lilies are one of the most common flowers that you’ll see at funerals. Lilies symbolize innocence and the purity of the soul of the person who has died. Although lilies are available in many colors, white lilies are most often used as funeral flowers.

Roses are another flower that is typically used in funerals. There are a variety of colors to choose from, and each has a special meaning in relationship to the person who has died. Red roses symbolize love for the deceased and grief about the death. White roses, as with lilies, symbolize purity and innocence. Yellow roses are usually sent to funerals by very close friends of the deceased, since they symbolize friendship. Light pink roses are seldom used in funerals, but dark pink roses are used to symbolize gratitude to the deceased for all that they have done for someone.

Another type of flower that is very commonly used for funerals is carnations. Carnations are usually included in funeral wreaths because of their bold colors. Red carnations symbolize affection. White carnations, like lilies and white roses, symbolize innocence, but they also symbolize rebirth. Pink carnations are a common choice among Catholics because of their belief that the tears of the Virgin Mary created these flowers.

Orchids are also used for funerals. They symbolize everlasting love for the loved one who has died. White or pink orchids are used to symbolize sympathy for the bereaved family.

Gladiolis are another common choice for flowers for a funeral. They symbolize great integrity and character in the person who died. They represent sincerity, strength, and a strong moral foundation. Since colors do not have specific meanings, as with some other funeral flowers, you can choose from a wide variety with gladiolis.

Two other flowers that very often used for funerals are tulips and daffodils. These bright-colored flowers may seem like an odd choice for a somber service, but because they bloom in the spring, they symbolize renewal and new beginnings. Sending a flower arrangement to the funeral that includes daffodils or tulips is analogous to sending the family a condolence card that expresses support and encouragement. It reminds them that although the present is difficult, they will persevere through it and they will be happy again, even with the lose of someone they loved, and you’ll be by their side every step of the way.

Violets are commonly given as funeral flowers when someone who is very young has died unexpectedly.

The symbolism of hyacinths is related to Greek mythology. The god Apollo had deep affection for a boy named Hyakinthos. The god Zephyr killed Hyakinthos, and after his burial, beautiful flowers sprung up around his grave. Apollo named these flowers hyacinths to honor his dead friend. Hyacinths, therefore, symbolize a deep sense of sorrow and intense grief for the person who has died.

Another flower, forget me nots, is also often included in funeral flower arrangements. They symbolize telling the person who has died that they will always be remembered and they will live on in your memories.

For more guidance with flowers for funerals at funeral homes in Cleveland, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit our funeral home at 2165 E. 89th Street, Cleveland, OH 44106, or you can call us today at (216) 791-0770.

Are You Prepared for the End?

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Preplanning cremations is one of Shaker Heights, OH cremation services, and there are many more things like preplanning cremations that we can do now to be prepared for the end of life.

Before we even get sick or reach an age where death is more likely than not, we should have legal documents in place that ensure that our wishes for our medical care and for distribution of the things that we will leave behind are done as we want them done.

A medical power of attorney is a legal document in which we designate someone we trust to make medical decisions for us if we are unable to. Without a medical power of attorney, even if our family knows what medical things we would or would not want, the doctor or hospital is bound to take all measures necessary until there is absolutely nothing more they can do because no one has been designated to make those decisions for us.

A medical power of attorney is important because we never know when we could be unable to make our own medical decisions. We could be incapacitated by a stroke, a debilitating disease like Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS), a tragic accident where we are unconscious, or by dementia. We would want a medical advocate who would make decisions in our best interests and according to our wishes.

If we don’t wish to be resuscitated if we stop breathing, then we should have a Do Not Resuscitate order drawn and signed by our primary care provider.

We should also have a living will. A living will is different from a medical power of attorney, in that a living will states what measures we do or don’t want taken when we are dying.

The medical power of attorney and the living will are legal as long as we’ve signed and dated them. It’s advisable to have them notarized, which is usually free at banks where we have financial accounts.

All three of these documents should be on file with our primary care physician and we should take them when we go to the hospital or to urgent care centers as well (many medical facilities now share access to our health care records, but it never hurts to take these documents anyway).

The other document that we should have now is a will. A will simply states how and to whom we want our assets distributed after we die. A will doesn’t have to be complicated nor does it have to be expensive. There is software and there are online sites that let you create your own will. A will is legal as long as it is signed and dated. Again, though, it is advisable to have a will witnessed and notarized.

We should also have updated information for our digital lives. This includes online bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, shopping accounts (like Amazon), social media accounts, email accounts, and any other online presence (such as blogs). Include all the pertinent information that your designated person will need to log in and manage or delete these accounts after you die. Keep it on a flash drive with your important papers.

If you’d like to learn more about Shaker Heights, OH cremation services, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit us at our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

Make Your Eulogy Count

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At Shaker Heights, OH funeral homes, the eulogy is often a centerpiece of a funeral service. It is an opportunity to draw a portrait of a life and sharing the things about that person that made them so special and so loved. It can seem like a daunting task, but there are some guidelines that can make it easier.

One guideline is to recognize how important the eulogy is to the family and to those who have gathered to mourn. Write it down. It may be painful to put the words to paper as you are also mourning the loss of someone you love and care about, but even if you’re a very good public speaker, you will not be able to memorize the kind of eulogy you’ll want to give. And, if you’re not comfortable with public speaking, having it written down will give you reassurance that you won’t falter.

Eulogies should be positive. They are not just a laundry list of all the great qualities of the deceased, but instead they are stories that show intimacy, friendship, and relationships. Tell stories, share memories, talk about how the deceased interacted well with everyone that they crossed paths with. Even good memories are hard to talk about when you’re grieving, but do it anyway. The family of the deceased will have a lot of comfort from the words you share about their loved one.

Another guideline is to include something you learned from the deceased. It might have been an example they set or the way they did something that clicked with you and changed you for the better. This gives insight into who the deceased was and how much of an impact they had on your life and the lives of others.

If you are the only one giving a eulogy, then you can plan for a presentation of five to ten minutes. However, if there are several people giving eulogies, plan for a time limit of three minutes. Practice while timing yourself to make sure you don’t go over the time limit.

When you start your eulogy, introduce yourself and describe your relationship with the deceased. There may be some people at the funeral service who don’t know you are, even if you’re an immediate family member. This is a good time, as well, to thank everybody for coming to the funeral service and let them know that the family appreciates them being there.

When giving the eulogy, speak slowly and enunciate your words. There are two reasons for this. One is obviously that you want everybody to understand what you’re saying. But the second reason is that it helps calm public-speaking jitters and nerves and allow the mourners to be fully attentive to your reflection on the life of the deceased.

Make eye contact with the mourners as you give the eulogy. Although you’re reading the eulogy, you want to stay engaged with everyone who is listening. Eye contact will do that. You don’t necessarily have to look at anyone specific, but you should look in both directions of the room occasionally.

End your eulogy with a favorite memory of the deceased and then offer encouragement and support to the rest of the mourners who are grieving with you.

For more information about eulogies at Shaker Heights, OH funeral homes, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH 44123, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

A Guide to Hosting a Remarkable Repast

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One of the Warrensville Heights, OH funeral services that can help ease the pain of losing a loved one is to hold a repast after the funeral or memorial service. It is a reception that is designed to offer additional support, comfort, and encouragement for the family as they adjust to the future without someone they love.

Repasts are usually centered around sharing food and drinks with each other in a comfortable setting that pulls everyone together in a common spirit of friendship and companionship. Some people have full sit-down dinners, while other people have light snacks or a potluck meal where everyone, except the family, brings a dish.

All of this, however, takes planning, and the funeral director can give suggestions and guidance to make the repast something that everyone who attends will remember fondly and warmly.

One of the considerations for a repast is where it will be held. The most commonly-used places for a repast are at the home of a friend or relative, the funeral home, a church community building, or a restaurant. Occasionally, if the weather is nice, repasts are also held at local parks. When choosing a place to have the repast, it’s important to think about its distance from the funeral home. If it’s too far away or too difficult to find, attendance may be low.

The menu for the repast is the next consideration. Cost and preparation time will be big factors. For potlucks, asking everyone to bring something is expected and is probably the easiest and least expensive options for a repast. If the repast is being hosted at a restaurant, choosing either a buffet-style meal or having the restaurant make a limited menu available can keep the cost more reasonable. If the meal is being catered, then the caterers can help with budget-friendly menus.

Repasts are very personalized and they focus on the life of the deceased. Memory tables, slide shows or videos, and photo walls are a very common part of repasts. Memory tables contain items that were special to the deceased or that represent honors and achievements in the deceased’s life.

Slide shows or videos often combine photos of the deceased with music that was either special to them or special to the family as a unit. These will play in the background during the repast.

Photo walls are usually arranged chronologically and show the deceased from birth to current. There are usually captions underneath each picture with the date and significance of the photo.

Another unique way to personalize the repast, if you’re having a potluck, is to have everyone bring one of the deceased’s favorite dishes (hopefully, they had a broad palate) for the group to share to remember them.

Planning a repast is not something a grieving family will be able to do on their own, because they have so many other things they need to take care of. Many times, a relative or friend will volunteer to coordinate planning the repast, but if no one volunteers, the family should not hesitate to ask for the help they need. The funeral director can certainly step in and be of great service in helping to coordinate the repast.

If you’d like to learn more about Warrensville Heights, OH funeral services, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit us at our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

Cremations with Funeral Services

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One of the cremations services in Warrensville Heights, OH is to help the family of the deceased planned a visitation and a funeral service before the cremation takes place.

When a visitation and funeral service are going to be held before cremation, the body of the deceased will be transported from the place of death to the funeral home. The family will meet with the funeral director, usually the day after the death of their loved one, to make funeral arrangements.

The family should bring clothes for the deceased to wear for the visitation. Shoes are not needed, since the feet will not be seen, but a pair of socks is always a nice gesture for the deceased (and it will make the family feel better). If the deceased is a man and he will be wearing a tie, do not include a tie tack, since this is jewelry that will need to be removed before the cremation. The same is true of cufflinks and watches.

The funeral director will then guide the family through the visitation process and will help them plan the funeral service. During this meeting, the family will decide whether to rent a casket for the visitation and funeral service or to purchase a cremation coffin for the ceremonies.

The body of the deceased will then be embalmed. This is a process that preserves the body so that it doesn’t start decomposing. Embalming also includes washing and dressing the body, cutting fingernails (if necessary), styling the hair, and making the deceased look as lifelike as is possible.

The visitation and funeral service will be held sequentially. Visitations are generally a two-hour period before the funeral service in which friends, families, neighbors, coworkers, and acquaintances can stop by and give the bereaved family their condolences and pay their respects to the deceased.

The funeral home will provide a guest book for all attendees, whether they come just for the visitation or for the visitation and the funeral. The grieving family will not remember everyone who came because they will still be in the blur and haze of the shock of the death of their loved one. Attendees should sign their first and last names in the guest book, so the family will know who they are (the guest book is given to the family by the funeral home when they pick up death certificates and the cremated remains).

The funeral service will traditionally include readings (poems, scriptures, and/or prose), eulogies, a spiritual message, and music. If the family wants to have the funeral service livestreamed or recorded (on a DVD, from which copies can be made and sent to family or friends who were not able to attend the funeral service), the funeral home will make all the arrangements for this to happen.

After the funeral service, if the family chose to rent a casket, the deceased will be transferred into a fully-combustible container for transport to the crematorium. The cremation process will then take place and the family will be notified when the cremation remains are available to be picked up.

For more information about cremations services in Warrensville Heights, OH, our compassionate and experienced team at E. F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home is here to help. You can visit our funeral home at 25900 Emery Road, Warrensville Heights, OH 44123, or you can call us today at (216) 831-7906.

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