How to Officiate at a Funeral Service
A funeral service addresses what may be a universal need to say goodbye through ceremony. Most religions follow their own practices regarding services, but ceremonial differences may have as much to do with cultural ...
Category: Funeral Ceremonies Loss
Stephen Hawking and Disability Narratives After Death
If you’ve seen any mass media coverage about Stephen Hawking’s passing this past March, you’ve probably witnessed praise of the late physicist that he “surpassed his disabilities” and excell ...
Category: Loss
Celebrating Life: Unique Ways of Memorializing a Loved One
In the West, a funeral is usually where you’d pay your last respects to a deceased person. Yet both older and newer alternative traditions exist that still let family give an honorable, memorable goodbye to a loved ...
How to Properly Honor Your Deceased Loved Ones
There is no pain greater than loss. When someone you care for deeply has passed away, it can leave behind a hole in your life that seems impossible to fill. As time passes and the emotional wound begins to heal, you may ...
Category: Loss
A Brief Refresher Course on Funeral Etiquette
Life brings with it both joyous and sorrowful events, so you’ll most likely have to attend the funeral of a friend, loved one, coworker or community member at some point in your life. Especially in the digital age, itâ ...
Saying Goodbye Without God: Choosing a Non-Religious Funeral
Many end-of-life traditions in the Western world are based on Christian customs. From the songs that are sung to their orders of services, funerals have been typically structured from Christian worship rituals and conduc ...
Blue Planet: How Other Cultures Handle Loss
Losing someone close to you can be paralyzing. Death is hard to accept, no matter how old you might be or how used to loss you might think you are. While it can be hard to move forward, there is comfort in knowing you ar ...
Category: Funeral Ceremonies Society Loss
Understanding Cremation for Your Loved Ones
Death can be incredibly difficult to deal with. When someone you know has passed away, you must find a way of coping that works best for you. Of course, there are some situations where you might not know how to process t ...
Honoring the Dead After a Natural Disaster
With recent headlines about the record-breaking hurricanes Harvey and Irma, there will likely be concerns about how to deal with mourning the dead in their aftermath. Religion and culture dictate funerary customs to whic ...
Grief Is Universal: Helping Your Pets Cope With Loss
We need to grieve whenever we lose someone close to us, but what about our pets? Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that they feel the loss of a loved one just as much as we do. During this difficult time, there are ...