Custom «Planning Your Funeral» Essay Paper Sample

Epitaph, obituary, funeral ceremony

Headstones are used as a tribute and to memorialize the persons whose grave they are used to mark.

Design

The headstone should be made of granite and in the shape of a guitar.

This is to symbolize my love and passion for music. The headstone currently costs approximately £1995.00 at Lewis and Co. Masons.

Color

The granite used for the headstone should be India Red. The words blasted into the headstone should be in black so as to express deep contrast.

Personal information

My name and life dates should be cast in bronze on the headstone. My preferred epitaph should be carved on the flat part of the headstone below the guitar. No headstone picture should be added onto it.

1. Epitaph

It should be carved into the slanted area of the headstone just below the guitar. The epitaph should read, “Playing my guitar in heaven.”

2. Obituary

The obituary should be placed in all the local newspapers and shall read:

“It is with immense sorrow and humble acceptance that we announce the death of our beloved Jasmina Mujkanovic. Dearly missed by your husband (insert name), children (insert names). Loving daughter in-law to (insert name) and (insert name). Favorite grandmother to (insert names).

Though gone, your legacy of courtesy, selflessness, character and humility live on in us. You shall forever remain an example to those who knew you.

The Cortege leaves Lee memorial home at 8:00 am on 19 th April 2099.”

3. Funeral

a) Body preparation

The body shall be preserved through embalming. This is the science and art of preserving the dead human body. It may be for short or long-term purposes. Embalming is done to make the dead body fit for viewing on the funeral day. Another reason for doing this is to prevent decomposition.

Embalming will be done at Lee funeral home. I should be dressed in my favorite purple dress and pearl necklace. The make-up put on by the embalmer should be understated.

b) Calling hours / Vigil

The vigil will take place a day before, I am finally laid to rest. It will be held at the Lee Funeral Home. This is the time my family and friends will all gather together to remember my life, console one another and prays for me. The funeral director will offer funeral cards to all who attend. The cards will bear my name and birth date on one side and a prayer on the other. There will be a visitor’s sign in the book, which the mourners should sign. This book will be used by the funeral organizers to send ‘thank you cards’ to those who attended.

The priest will lead those in attendance, in the Rosary for my departed soul. The casket will be open, and the mourners will be allowed to view the body. There will be candles placed on all sides of the casket. Flower arrangements of roses and carnations should also be placed and hang around the funeral home. The mourners should make donations to the Operation Smile Mission in commemoration of my volunteer work with the organization. There will be a crucifix present during the vigil. A rosary will also be placed on my folded hands.

c) Suggested music

Hymns that will be played in the background during the wake are such as Ave Maria, Death will no More, The Supper of the Lord, Amazing Grace and Take my Soul.

During the vigil, my eulogy will be read by my oldest grand child to the mourners.

d) Eulogy

I can barely do justice to putting all my grandma’s outstanding traits in writing we may be mourning her death, but I know she is in heaven playing her guitar and satisfied with what she left us.

She was a sister, mother and a dear friend to all of us here. My grandma touched each of our lives in her own peculiar way, which nobody can forget. She was my mentor, and we made a lot of pleasant memories together. Now that, she is gone, I do not know if I will be the same again. She loved to watch old movies, and I loved accompanying her to watch them at the movies. We could rarely agree on what to watch, but it was terrific fun when we finally came to an agreement.

My grandmother was a strong woman who played the guitar, in my opinion, better than Jimmy Hendricks.

She was extremely kind, always willing to offer help to all who needed it. Although she is gone and we will never see her, we will always remember her in those exceptional moments we spent together. We should all be at all times thankful to the Lord that we had a chance to know a remarkable woman like my grandmother.

e) The Requiem Mass

The next day after the vigil, the requiem mass, will be held. The body will be moved from the funeral home to the chapel. This will take place as the tenor bells of the chapel toll. The priest will say his mass and there after head to the local cemetery for burial.

f) Wake

A wake should be held during the first anniversary of my death. A good amount of time will have passed since my death. The wake should, therefore, be an informal garden celebration where all my friends and family can meet again to celebrate my life. It will be held at my house in the garden. A clergyman should be present to give a speech. Any other friend or family willing to speak is welcome.

A mix CD containing my favorite songs should be played. The garden should have several tents put up for the guests to sit at. There should also be a food tent located within everyone’s reach. The garden should be decorated with flowers and a bouncing castle at one corner for my young grand children to play. This is after all, a celebration of my life.

g) Food

The food served during the wake should be ham dollar rolls with chutney, mayo or mustard, chicken salad, cheese and crackers, deviled eggs, potato salad and fruit platters. There should also be brownies and cookies. The food should be laid out in one of the tents.

Funeral budget

Headstone £1995

Creation of headstone establishment £70

Hiring a funeral director £500

Hiring a hearse £275

Transfer of body from the funeral home to church £120

Transfer of body from church to cemetery £120

Pine coffin £300

Embalming costs £380

Ministers fees and cost of flowers £2750

Flowers at wake £800

Food served £3000

Entertainment £250

Total £10560

Write up

At first, I though it was a morbid idea to plan my own funeral. It is as if I am setting the stage for my own death. This appeared devilishly sinister. However, after thinking about it, it actually made a lot of sense to plan one owns funeral. It is a plan for the future. It is, therefore, not morbid to plan for the future (your funeral) Just as people save and take out life insurance policies, planning for one owns funeral is a futuristic idea. Just as we were all born, we will also die. Death is, therefore, certain and should be planned for with careful consideration. One may plan for ones own funeral so as to remove the burden of planning and organizing from the survivors.

Planning for ones funeral is a hard process since it means that the planner has to come to terms with his/her own death. However, a funeral is in a way the last party that will ever be thrown in your honor. Therefore, you should have a say in what goes on.

No one can be able to control who attends their funeral. However, you can control their experience even to intricate details.

By making a funeral plan, you will be doing the survivors a favor. They no longer have to guess what you would have wanted to happen during your funeral. It is just like a will. By leaving behind your desires, you will be relieving your kin from the pressure of making critical decisions during a time of mourning.

Do-it-yourself kinds of funerals are a growing trend in society today. However, not many people are able to make this kind of plans. This is because the society has distanced itself in a way, from death. Today we have old people’s homes and hospices where the aged and dying goes. These institutions alienate death from society as people go here to die. This is unlike in the past where death was a fundamental part of the society and people died at home allowing the community to grieve ones loss.

Death is an alien to society. This makes it extraordinarily difficult for individuals to plan their own funeral. In schools around the county, the children have sex education classes. However, no one teaches children about death and unlike sex, death is certain.

Individuals should try seeking help even from therapists so as to come to terms with death. This will enable them to be able to plan for their funerals since it is just like any other event, and it is inevitable.