Graduation Speech : Funerals And Memorials

The article, “10 Burdens Funeral Directors Carry”, written by Caleb Wilde expresses the unique struggles of those working the funeral business. They face numerous challenges through trying to aid and support those mourning a loved one. This often over looked and underappreciated field offers a salient as well as specific service desperately needed by each community. By encountering: depression, psychosis, isolation, stress, workaholism and death itself funeral directors make numerous personal sacrifices to continue to provide honor and respect to the dead.

Most people contact funeral homes whenever a relative of theirs has passed. In most cases, the family gets good services and everything goes right, but there are also scenarios where things go totally wrong. The sad truth is, in many cases, many families do not find out the truth that happens inside the funeral homes. Bodies have been misplaced, cremations have been done wrong or not done in some cases, and body parts have been stolen (FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY ABUSE). That is just some of the few things that have happened. Funeral homes are known for charging a lot for funerals and in many cases use their knowledge to convince people to buy more expensive things. Funeral homes have their ways where they outsmart people and they also in some

The amount of annual revenue allocated to funeral home versus cremation services is quickly evening out, and cremation is predicted by the NFDA to completely overtake burial selection within the next

The MacDonald Funeral Home website provides pathos with explaining that the home has been helping families by providing an understanding, meaningful, as well as caring funeral for the past 34 years. This website offers many photos that provide an emotional experience to the reader, such as photos of their family, photos of the recent obituaries, as well as photos explaining that they cremate people's loved ones using care. The website has lots of green, which provides the reader with feelings of growth, balance, harmony, and hope. Oddly curved shapes (natural/organic shapes) tend to comfort and please the

While reading through the lossography I found a common similarity among most of the lossographys’, which is the ritual of having a funeral or a wake after someone has died. A specific example, is when a classmate describes the experiences of his grandfather’s wake (pg.8). I noticed most of the lossographys included some kind of ritual either mourning or celebrating the death of a loved one. I also noticed how age and

Criticisms of American funeral practices have been made publicly aware since the 1920’s, and actually go back to ancient times in the scope of human’s ceremonies for the dead. Since the first published argument against modern funerals various authors joined the movement publishing their disparagements of customs for the deceased; that in essence contend the grandiosity and lavish displays are merely a social and psychological representation of the monetary opportunity of funerals (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 306-307). Even further, regarding the encompassing funeral industry as exploiting grieving loved ones for their financial gains, while disregarding the actual needs of modern society (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2015, p. 307).

Some cultures are traditional and want to bury love ones in a traditional way. However, younger generations are more creative in the way they bury loved ones. For example, sea lovers may have their ashes put into an eternal reef and put into the sea. A positive spin is being put on funerals and now being called “celebrations of life”. The death rate is low right now but as baby boomers get older the death rate will rise, and the funeral service industry will see a big boost.

It allows friends and family to offer their last goodbyes, to honor them, and to recognize and celebrate the life that they once previously had.

The article Coffin, Urns, and Webcast Funerals by Edward Wong is a perfect example of the deritualization of funerals. It gives examples of how funerals have become less interrupting and tragic. Just the idea of not having to physically be at a funeral to see it is deritualization. The purpose of this isn’t to add to the funeral for the

Sandy Hingston offers many intriguing views of a funeral service from the conventional method of a service in a church and the burial of the deceased to a service that more so relates to a party than a funeral. “The Death of the Funeral Business” also raises many questions to be pondered by the reader. Hingston says, “A societal changeover from burial to cremation is momentous for our culture. It signals a cataclysmic shift in how we think about our bodies and ourselves” (38). The questions that arise from this quote are what parallels may Hingston be trying to draw between the trend in cremation and the way we “think about our bodies and ourselves?” Why may she be trying to develop these connections? These are the questions I will be focusing on and how they relate to what I think the purpose of the article is. I believe the purpose of this article is to show how our generation is changing the way we view death and how the use of technology has greatly impacted the way funerals are done.

This concept also interferes with the usual funeral or memorial service because these events serve as a major point for bringing closure to the people who are coming to terms with the death of their loved one by allowing them to express their grief (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). As stated within Chapter 13, funerals “allow the family to demonstrate cohesion through sharing rituals, food, and drink” (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2011). If there is a drive-through, then families would not be able to share rituals which can help with the grieving process. Additionally, as mentioned within Chapter 13, most people think highly of funeral ceremonies as the ceremonies provide a meaningful way for survivors to handle the grief, and the ceremonies make the reality of

Using the internet is a very resourceful technology that can be used to assistant client around the world. The three self-help groups that were identified on the internet were online grief support, SMART recovery, and support groups. The online grief support is entirely online self-help group for grieving individuals. The website contains grief counseling, journals, blogs, and chat options. Individuals can post or read testimonies about grieving of a loved one. To use this self-help group, an individual must register or sign up to the website. The advantage of this self-help group is a sense of belonging to a community that has a similar experience of losing someone. Loss can lead to someone feeling lonely and disconnected from the world. The disadvantage of

After some research on five current trends in the funeral service operations, I decided to choose the following submerging topics: personalization, technology, “green” funerals, women in the industry and pet funerals. In regards to personalization, Shivon loved the idea that more services were becoming specific to a deceased individual’s life. Families are trying to seek ways to make meaningful funeral services, while helping with the grieving process. “The idea of personalization has resulted in an explosion of unique services that reflect the hobbies, passions and interests of someone who has died” (National Funeral Directors Association, 2017). With technology on the rise, it is only appropriate for funeral homes to jump on the

New technology has change the dying and mourning process by providing patients and family members access to sources like online health support groups

     Because of the Internet, suppliers can now sell their products online directly to the consumer virtually eliminating the funeral home from the bereavement process.