Before you roll your eyes, stop and think about what I’m saying: staging a funeral is a lot like hosting a social gathering (I hate to call it a party, but I … [Read more...]
Price Shopping and Showrooming in the Funeral Home
Recently, a funeral director mentioned how frustrating it can be to deal with price shoppers who bring smartphones and tablet computers to the arrangement … [Read more...]
No Funeral, No Flowers: What I Learned Planning a Memorial Service
We recently had a death in the family. Our family matriarch. Grandmother. She lived a long, rich life and had made a list of specific wishes before she … [Read more...]
What Your Funeral Director Wants You to Know about Advance Planning
It saddens me to say funeral directors have–for many folks anyway– a reputation for a predatory approach to caring for the dead. This negative thinking, in the … [Read more...]
How to Plan a Funeral , The First Steps
If you’ve gone searching online, you’ll already know there’s a whole lot of information about funeral planning floating around the Internet. So what makes this … [Read more...]
Two Winter Reading Recommendations
I've been collecting books on death and funerals for decades. One of the first was Phillippe Ariès , In the Hour of Our Death, purchased when I was in graduate … [Read more...]
Funeral Etiquette: Why You Need to Think Like an Anthropologist
By Kim Stacey, M.A., CFD, CGC I’m a licensed funeral director and a certified grief counselor; but first and foremost, I’m an anthropologist. I’m here to … [Read more...]
Anchor Cremation Urn for an American Sailor
Recently, a mother's story about her son's Navy service was so touching that it brought tears to my eyes. She called about an urn we carry, a beautiful midnight … [Read more...]
Scattering Ashes On Superstition Mountains
Recently, Don Imus mentioned that the ashes of his mother and brother were scattered in the Arizona Superstition Mountains. The name of the area got my … [Read more...]
How to Order a Cremation Urn Online and Have Peace of Mind
In today's economy everything is shaky at best, just like life. Erratic and day to day. Families that are facing difficult decisions and having to juggle the … [Read more...]